Shakespeare and the Visual Arts

by

Stuart Sillars

• LAST MODIFIED: 19 February 2025
• DOI: 10.1093/obo/9780199846719-0210

Introduction

The first known illustration of a Shakespeare play was probably made by William Faithorne in a single image for The Rape of Lucrece in 1655, but it was only in 1709 that an illustrated edition was published with designs for most of the plays by Francois Boitard. Others soon followed, developing into a rapid and broad stream of pictorial images that reached its full breadth in the later nineteenth century. The Rococo style became fashionable in illustrated editions, notably those of Hubert Gravelot and Francis Hayman. In the 1770s came illustrated editions, such as those of John Bell, showing actors in popular roles—an important development in linking book and stage. From then until the 1840s, a range of different styles and approaches followed in both illustrated editions and easel paintings, the demand steadily increasing among many kinds of readers. Shakespeare paintings, especially those of William Hogarth and Francis Hayman, had already been popular among the wealthy from the 1720s, but it was not until 1789 that a series of paintings, later reproduced as engravings, began to appear. Known as the “Boydell Shakespeare,” these were commissioned from both famous and lesser-known artists. Shown in a specially built gallery, they were matched by engravings, which became popular throughout England and America. The enterprise combined artistic, patriotic, and commercial fervor, but its main succuss lay in widely presenting England as a nation with its own artistic identity, the prints being widely sold there and in America. Both paintings and illustrations became very popular in the nineteenth century, culminating with the Pre-Raphaelites and their contemporaries and followers. Although important earlier, paintings making complex comments on the plays became much more common, with illustrated editions adopting new styles to offer similarly rich interpretations through their styles and allusions. By contrast, 20th-century images of both kinds were far less common, and only much more recently have a few artists worked in the area. But there are new developments, especially the growing international popularity of Manga and Comic Book Shakespeare. The approach of this article begins with essential reference sources, important especially for research on earlier images that, because of their sheer range and rarity, are covered widely here, most being available in reference libraries. Those sources that are provided cover major artists by subject.

Reference Books and Encyclopedias

Large reference books can be of value in finding general information about individual topics, artists, or writers, most helpful in providing a first point of entry for research. They do, however, vary considerably in depth and, above all, in their relation to most recent research. Inevitably, books of this kind may age rapidly and so need to be treated with caution. Those cited here are of two kinds from the many available. The Cambridge guides are comprehensive in their topic-by-topic approach, allowing concise but intensive treatment of subjects based on the most recent research. The Sillars volumes (Sillars 2006, Sillars 2008, and Sillars 2012) remain the most complete accounts of Shakespeare illustrations, making available accounts of the images from all periods, with very full use of illustrations. They also develop the material by analyzing ways in which images work with the texts to clarify and extend their meanings, although at times these become personal readings not always universal in nature. All these volumes are valuable initial points of reference—and some may also offer suggestive paths for disagreement.

• Altick, Richard. Paintings from Books: Art and Literature in Britain, 1760–1900. Columbus: Ohio State University, 1985.

  Valuable in linking Shakespeare images to other kinds of texts, best read alongside direct accounts such as the Cambridge guides, perhaps as a second level of investigation.

• Meisel, Martin. Realizations: Narrative, Pictorial, and Theatrical Arts in Nineteenth-Century England. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1983.

  Like Altick 1985, this is an individual approach, but its strength lies in bringing together the three elements of the title.

• Sillars, Stuart. Painting Shakespeare: The Artist as Critic, 1720–1820. Cambridge, UK, and New York: Cambridge University Press, 2006.

  A chronological account of illustrated editions from their beginnings and their relationships with the texts featured. Probably the single-most detailed source for the period, fully illustrated with many in color. Includes separate chapters on Fuseli, Romney, Blake, Reynolds, and Boydell as well as lesser-known artists.

• Sillars, Stuart. The Illustrated Shakespeare, 1707–1875. Cambridge, UK, and New York: Cambridge University Press, 2008.

  DOI: 10.1017/CBO9781107300903

  Companion to Sillars 2006. As well as the major artists, covers Bell and other illustrators of the theater; the Boydell Shakespeare paintings; some with added images in “Grangerised” editions; and Victorian popular illustrators such as Selous, Gilbert, and Meadows.

• Sillars, Stuart. Shakespeare, Time and the Victorians: A Pictorial Exploration. Cambridge, UK, and New York: Cambridge University Press, 2012.

  Continues from The Illustrated Shakespeare (Sillars 2008) but rests on change through time, including the relationships between theater and print. Also, contains sections on photography and the Pre-Raphaelites.

• Smith, Bruce R., ed. The Cambridge Guide to the Worlds of Shakespeare. Vol. 1, Shakespeare’s World, 1500–1660. Cambridge, UK, and New York: Cambridge University Press, 2016a.

  An essential compendium of essays covering practically all conceivable approaches to the works. Each entry has a valuable section on further reading.

• Smith, Bruce R., ed. The Cambridge Guide to the Worlds of Shakespeare. Vol. 2, The World’s Shakespeare, 1660–Present. Cambridge, UK, and New York: Cambridge University Press, 2016b.

  As Sillars 2012, with the same approach for the earlier period.