ticketsMember | Make a donation

Hamlet Tries To Follow His Father's Ghost

Lithographer Villain French
Subject William Shakespeare British
1835
Not on view
In 1834 Delacroix began a series of lithographs devoted to Hamlet, creating moody images that mirror the troubled psyche of the prince. Choosing key scenes and poetic passages, the artist's highly personal and dramatic images were unusual in France, where interest in Shakespeare developed only in the nineteenth century. Here, in act 1, scene 4, the prince struggles (in a pose reminiscent of the Roman statue known as the Borghese Gladiator) to break free of Horatio and Marcellus and follow his murdered father's ghost, exclaiming: "Still am I call'd. Unhand me, gentlemen. / By heaven, I'll make a ghost of him that lets me! / I say, away! Go on; I'll follow thee." Gihaut frères published the artist's thirteen-print set in 1843, with a second expanded edition of sixteen issued by Bertauts in 1864. Cooly received at first, the prints eventually were recognized as one of the artist's most significant achievements.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Hamlet Tries To Follow His Father's Ghost
  • Series/Portfolio: Hamlet, Treize Sujets Dessinés par Eug. Delacroix [Hamlet, Thirteen Subjects Drawn by Eug. Delacroix], Gihaut Frères, Paris, 1843
  • Artist: Eugène Delacroix (French, Charenton-Saint-Maurice 1798–1863 Paris)
  • Lithographer: Villain (French, active 1819–53)
  • Subject: William Shakespeare (British, Stratford-upon-Avon 1564–1616 Stratford-upon-Avon)
  • Date: 1835
  • Medium: Lithograph; second state of four
  • Dimensions: Image: 10 1/8 x 8 in. (25.7 x 20.3 cm)
    Sheet: 11 5/8 x 8 3/4 in. (29.6 x 22.3 cm)
  • Classification: Prints
  • Credit Line: Rogers Fund, 1922
  • Object Number: 22.56.6
  • Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints

More Artwork

More Artwork
A slider containing 5 items.
Press the down key to skip to the last item.
Studies of Horses, Eugène Delacroix French, Graphite and traces of brown ink on laid paper
Studies of Horses
Eugène Delacroix
A Bearded Man, Standing, and a Classical Head, Eugène Delacroix French, Pen and brown ink on tracing paper (mounted on heavy wove paper)
A Bearded Man, Standing, and a Classical Head
Eugène Delacroix
1815–63
Les Français peints par eux-mêmes encyclopédie morale du dix-neuvième siècle. Paris, L. Curmer, 1840-1842.
Eugène Delacroix
19th century
La Pietà, Eugène Delacroix French, Etching on chine collé; second state of two
La Pietà
Multiple artists/makers
1852
Studies of a Goat, Eugène Delacroix French, Graphite on wove paper
Studies of a Goat
Eugène Delacroix
1798–1863

Related Content

Timeline of Art History

Entries from The Met's art encyclopedia.

Publications

Books, guides, and catalogues published by The Met.

Research Resources

The Met provides unparalleled resources for research and welcomes an international community of students and scholars. The Met's Open Access API is where creators and researchers can connect to the The Met collection. Open Access data and public domain images are available for unrestricted commercial and noncommercial use without permission or fee.

To request images under copyright and other restrictions, please use this Image Request form.

Feedback

We continue to research and examine historical and cultural context for objects in The Met collection. If you have comments or questions about this object record, please complete and submit this form. The Museum looks forward to receiving your comments.