Mr. Garrick in the Character of Richard III
Not on view
Hogarth represents his close friend, the actor David Garrick, as Richard III waking from a vision of the ghosts of those he murdered to attain the throne. The scene occurs in act 5, scene 7 of Shakespeare's play, just before the Battle of Bosworth Field where Richard is defeated and the Tudors attain the throne. Based on a 1745 painting at the Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool, the print conveys Garrick's dynamic ability to bring Shakespeare to life for his contemporaries.