David Garrick as Richard III (Shakespeare, King Richard III, Act 5, Scene 8)

David Garrick as Richard III (Shakespeare, King Richard III, Act 5, Scene 8)

Samuel William Reynolds, the elder

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

This fragmentary image records Reynolds's work on a mezzotint that portrays the actor David Garrick as Richard III at Bosworth Field. Engaged in his final battle, the king's rank is indicated by components of the Order of the Garter--St. George fighting the dragon hanging about his neck, and the star emblazoned on his coat. The print is based on Nathaniel Dance-Holland's painting, now at the Town Hall, Stratford-upon-Avon (see 53.600.1843 for John Dixon's print of the full composition).

Drawings and Prints

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

David Garrick as Richard III (Shakespeare, King Richard III, Act 5, Scene 8)David Garrick as Richard III (Shakespeare, King Richard III, Act 5, Scene 8)David Garrick as Richard III (Shakespeare, King Richard III, Act 5, Scene 8)David Garrick as Richard III (Shakespeare, King Richard III, Act 5, Scene 8)David Garrick as Richard III (Shakespeare, King Richard III, Act 5, Scene 8)

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.