William Shakespeare

1719

Not on view

In a series devoted to poets, the engraver and antiquary Vertue based this image on the Chandos portrait of Shakespeare, a painting with a good claim to be a lifetime representation, once owned by the Duke of Chandos, at now the National Portrait Gallery, London. The sitter’s doublet has here been enhanced with small darts, and the image set within a simulated stone frame crowned with laurels over a pedestal inscribed with an ode. The engraver researched his subjects carefully and produced hundreds of prints representing people who contributed to British history and culture.

Artwork Details

Title: William Shakespeare
Series/Portfolio: Poets
Engraver: George Vertue (British, London 1684–1756 London)
Artist: After (?) John Taylor (British, died 1651)
Publisher: George Vertue (British, London 1684–1756 London)
Sitter: William Shakespeare (British, Stratford-upon-Avon 1564–1616 Stratford-upon-Avon)
Date: 1719
Medium: Etching and engraving
Dimensions: Sheet (trimmed to plate): 13 3/4 × 9 3/16 in. (35 × 23.3 cm)
Classification: Prints
Credit Line: Harris Brisbane Dick Fund, 1917
Object Number: 17.3.756–1044
Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints

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History of England

George Vertue

Rapin & Tindal

1732

Bust of Hollar in a Circular Frame (published in Vertue's, Description of the Works of the Ingenious Delineator & Engraver, Wenceslaus Hollar), George Vertue British, Etching and engraving — Bust of Hollar in a Circular Frame (published in Vertue's, Description of the Works of the Ingenious Delineator & Engraver, Wenceslaus Hollar)
George Vertue
1745

Portrait of Hollar in a roundel (from Vertue's, "Description of the Works of the Ingenious Delineator & Engraver, Wenceslaus Hollar.," 1745)

Multiple artists/makers

1759

Georgius Mag Britanniae Rex., Fidei Defensor &c. &c.

Multiple artists/makers

1718

Mary, Queen of Scots, George Vertue British, Etching and engraving — Mary, Queen of Scots
George Vertue
Mary, Queen of Scots
early 18th century

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