The Plays of William Shakespeare, vol. 1, containing The Tempest, Two Gentlemen of Verona, Merry Wives of Windsor

The Plays of William Shakespeare, vol. 1, containing The Tempest, Two Gentlemen of Verona, Merry Wives of Windsor

William Shakespeare

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Fuseli designed the illustrations in this ten-volume set of Shakepeare's plays, edited by George Steevens and published in 1803. Bromley’s print for The Merry Wives of WIndsor responds to act 5, scene 5, where Falstaff meets Mistress Ford and Mistress Quickly in WIndsor Great Park at night. The print translates a loose sketch in the Museum's collection (1975.131.232) into a tightly controlled image with no detail left to the imagination. A high degree of finish was expected from a good reproductive engraver in this period, and details of dress and expression have been added to clarify the narrative. The ladies’ turned heads indicate their awareness of the approaching townsfolk, as their flirtatious gestures distract Falstaff from his coming humiliation.

Drawings and Prints

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Plays of William Shakespeare, vol. 1, containing The Tempest, Two Gentlemen of Verona, Merry Wives of WindsorThe Plays of William Shakespeare, vol. 1, containing The Tempest, Two Gentlemen of Verona, Merry Wives of WindsorThe Plays of William Shakespeare, vol. 1, containing The Tempest, Two Gentlemen of Verona, Merry Wives of WindsorThe Plays of William Shakespeare, vol. 1, containing The Tempest, Two Gentlemen of Verona, Merry Wives of WindsorThe Plays of William Shakespeare, vol. 1, containing The Tempest, Two Gentlemen of Verona, Merry Wives of Windsor

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.