Description: ACTOR JOHN PHILIP KEMBLE AS SHAKESPEARE’S HAMLET 1840 Engraving Image is 7 x 4½" Sir Thomas Lawrence’s portrait of Kemble, who made his London debut as Hamlet at Drury Lane in 1783, is among the earliest works to attempt to capture the Romantic critics’ conception of Hamlet’s angst-ridden psyche, a man of too heightened a sensibility to be able to carry out the role fate has assigned him. Where earlier artists had invariably depicted Hamlet as the central figure within some key moment of dramatic action, Lawrence, following the success of his much-admired earlier portrait of Kemble as Coriolanus, portrayed Hamlet alone and as an isolated, meditative figure, dominating the entire canvas. Though he holds the skull in his left hand and stands beside the newly-dug grave, Lawrence’s Hamlet seems unconscious of the presence of either. The somber, melancholy mood of the picture helps convey the sense of Hamlet’s brooding introspection. The effect is largely created by Lawrence’s use of a low horizon, which encourages the viewer to concentrate upon the central figure who is partly silhouetted against the dark sky and the setting sun low down at the rear left. Kemble’s face and hands, together with the skull, are highlighted in such a way that there appears to be a source of illumination low down in the foreground, almost as though he stands before footlights in a theater.
Price: 24 USD
Location: Skokie, Illinois
End Time: 2023-12-15T22:05:59.000Z
Shipping Cost: 0 USD
Product Images
Item Specifics
Restocking Fee: No
Return shipping will be paid by: Seller
All returns accepted: Returns Accepted
Item must be returned within: 30 Days
Refund will be given as: Money Back
Type: Print
Year of Production: 1840
Size: Small
Signed: No
Date of Creation: 1800-1899
Original/Reproduction: Original Print
Material: Engraving
Original/Licensed Reprint: Original
Subject: Actors, Shakespeare
