Dimensions support: 267 x 930 mm
Editor: So, this is Thomas Stothard's "Shakespearean Characters" at the Tate. I'm struck by the sheer number of figures he manages to cram onto this canvas! What's your take on it? Curator: For me, it's like a dream, or perhaps a very crowded stage. Stothard clearly adored Shakespeare, and here he's gathered a whole troupe of beloved players. It’s a grand procession, isn't it? Like a memory play unfolding. Who do you recognize? Editor: Well, I see Falstaff, for sure! And is that Romeo and Juliet? It's interesting how he blends comedy and tragedy. Curator: Exactly! Stothard's painting echoes the emotional breadth of Shakespeare himself. Each figure carries their own story, their own drama. The light almost feels like a spotlight, doesn’t it? Editor: It really does. I never thought of a painting as a stage before. Thanks for the insight! Curator: My pleasure. Art is theatre, life is theatre, perhaps?
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http://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/stothard-shakespearean-characters-n01830
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This painting depicts a procession of favourite characters from Shakespeare’s plays. From left to right, they are: Olivia, Malvolio, Sir Toby Belch and Sir Andrew Aguecheek (from Twelfth Night); Falstaff and his drunken associates (from The Merry Wives of Windsor); Celia and Rosalind (from As You Like It); Prospero and Miranda (from The Tempest); King Lear and Cordelia (from King Lear); Ophelia and Hamlet (from Hamlet); Lady Macbeth and the witches (from Macbeth). Instead of showing the characters in literally theatrical settings, Stothard, like other artists of the time including James Barry and Henry Fuseli, pioneered a more imaginative approach, treating the figures as poetic inventions. Gallery label, April 2016
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