Shakespeare's plays illustrated by Blake and Fuseli: The artists as critics

Résumé du document

It has judiciously been pointed out that "pictures from Shakespeare account[ed] for about one fifth -some 2 300!- of the total number of literary paintings recorded between 1760 and 1900" (R. Altick). As a matter of fact, the renewed interest in nineteenth century British art in the last decades made it easier to identify and see reproductions of the many paintings based on Shakespeare's plays. These "history paintings", as they were called, reveal how deeply painters, actors, directors and critics influenced one another, and how interdependent they were in their critical interpretations, depictions and productions of Shakespeare's masterpieces. In the nineteenth century, the relationship between literature and the graphic arts was much closer and the definition of "literary" criticism was broader than it is now. Some painters were even called "poets painters", in reference to the concept of "ut pictura poesis" and to the traditional analogy between painters and poets, "identifying the painter with the players, as artists equally capable of realizing the narrative import and the dramatic potential of the poet's imagined picture" (M. Meisel).

Extraits

[...] The Fairy World of Dreams and Fantasy a. William Blake, Oberon, Titania and Puck with Fairies Dancing (1785) The painting draws its inspirations from the end of A Midsummer Night's Dream. Titania, Oberon, Puck and their band of fairies obey the commands of their King and Queen: Oberon: Through the house give gathering light, By the dead and drowsy fire: Every elf and fairy sprite Hop as light as bird from brier; And this ditty, after me, Sing, and dance it trippingly. [...]

[...] In this respect, the painting could have easily passed for the illustration of a fairy tale, given its cheerful and fairy facets. We are definitely very far from the gloomy ambience of Macbeth or Hamlet! b. Henry Füseli, Titania, Bottom and the Fairies (1794) This is one of several illustrations by Füseli on scenes from A Midsummer Night's Dream, a natural source for an artist so often drawn to the subject of dreams and nightmares! The source is situated in Act IV, scene 1. [...]

[...] King Henry VI: Ah, what a sign it is of evil life, Where death's approach is seen so terrible! Warwick: Beaufort, it is thy sovereign speaks to thee. Cardinal: Bring me unto my trial when you will. Died he not in his bed? Where should he die? Can I make men live, whether they will or no? torture me no more! I will confess. Alive again? Then show me where he is: I'll give a thousand pound to look upon him. [...]

[...] Whatever the original inspiration for the picture, sometime after 1800, Blake turned it into a line engraving, added a few details moth and a caterpillar fleeing as the sun rises-, and appended several lines of poetry: Albion rose from where he labour'd at the Mill with Slaves: Giving himself for the Nations he danc'd the dance of Eternal Death. Indeed, this painting epitomizes the theme of dreams and fantasy. Its bright colours -mainly orange and yellow- contribute to create a joyful and vivid atmosphere. The central figure, the naked Albion, is suffused with light, his golden hair adopting the same tint as the sky behind him. Indeed, the posture of his arms and legs suggests sunbeams: it is as if Albion and the sun were intermingling. [...]

[...] It stands upright, Like lime-twigs set to catch my winged soul. Give me some drink; and bid the apothecary Bring the strong poison that I bought of him. King Henry VI: O thou eternal Mover of the heavens. Look with a gentle eye upon this wretch! O beat away the busy meddling fiend That lays strong siege unto this wretch's soul. And from his bosom purge this black despair! Warwick: See, how the pangs of death do make him grin! Salisbury: Disturb him not; let him pass peaceably. [...]