Hamlet and the Corpse of Polonius

In 1834 Delacroix began a series of lithographs devoted to Hamlet, creating moody images that mirror the troubled psyche of the prince. Choosing key scenes and poetic passages, the artist's highly personal and dramatic images were unusual in France, where interest in Shakespeare developed only in the nineteenth century. Here, in act 3, scene 4, the prince discovers that he has stabbed Polonious rather than his intended victim the king--the courtier having hidden himself behind a curtain to listen to Hamlet's meeting with his mother. Gihaut frères published the artist's thirteen-print set in 1843, with a second expanded edition of sixteen issued by Bertauts in 1864. Cooly received at first, the prints eventually were recognized as one of the artist's most significant achievements.

Credit: Rogers Fund, 1922