Othello of de Moor van Venetië 1848 - 1881

This hand-colored engraving entitled 'Othello of de Moor van Venetië' was created by Lutkie & Cranenburg. Here we see the various characters of Shakespeare’s Othello rendered through their distinctive costumes. Theater in the Netherlands has a rich social history, and in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, popular dramas provided a crucial space for the expression of national identity. What we see on display here are the costumes that would have made Othello legible to a contemporary audience. It’s interesting to note that the attire is not particularly Moorish. Instead, the production relies on a common European Renaissance vernacular of dress, but exaggerates it to delineate character. Historians interested in the production of Shakespeare in the Netherlands would find this print a useful artifact of theater history. We can see how meaning is created through visual codes, in this case, the cultural associations of garments.