John Henderson, in the Character of Iago (Shakespeare's "Othello")

John Henderson, in the Character of Iago (Shakespeare's "Othello")

Francesco Bartolozzi

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Published shortly after Henderson's death, this engraving shows the actor in a signature role, the villainous Iago in "Othello," which he played to great acclaim at the Covent Garden Theatre between 1780 and 1785. Bartolozzi based the subject's expressive features on a painting by the American painter Gilbert Stuart, who lived in London between 1775 and 1793. Known as "The Bath Roscius," Henderson worked in the latter city until 1778, then moved to London after David Garrick's death (see 17.3.981 for George Romney's conception of Henderson as Macbeth).

Drawings and Prints

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

John Henderson, in the Character of Iago (Shakespeare's "Othello")John Henderson, in the Character of Iago (Shakespeare's "Othello")John Henderson, in the Character of Iago (Shakespeare's "Othello")John Henderson, in the Character of Iago (Shakespeare's "Othello")John Henderson, in the Character of Iago (Shakespeare's "Othello")

The Department’s vast collection of works on paper comprises approximately 21,000 drawings, 1.2 million prints, and 12,000 illustrated books created in Europe and the Americas from about 1400 to the present day. Since its foundation in 1916, the Department has been committed to collecting a wide range of works on paper, which includes both pieces that are incredibly rare and lauded for their aesthetic appeal, as well as material that is more popular, functional, and ephemeral. The broad scope of the department’s collecting encourages questions of connoisseurship as well as those pertaining to function and context, and demonstrates the vital role that prints, drawings, and illustrated books have played throughout history.