Tempest, act II, scene II. Trinculo, Stephano, and Caliban [graphic] / by Robert Smirke.

Tempest, act II, scene II. Trinculo, Stephano, and Caliban [graphic] / by Robert Smirke.

Pressly title: Stephano confronting the monster

ca. 1798.

1 painting on canvas : oil ; 78 x 57 cm

canvas

Title from Boydell catalog.

Date based on first appearance in Boydell catalog.

In its original frame.

Engravings: W. C. Wilson, published 23 April 1798 for 1802 Boydell edition of Shakespeare's plays, facing p. 53 of The Tempest; a later outline engraving by Starling, 4 1/8 x 2 7/8 in. (image)

Versions: Smirke executed a variation on this composition for a later publication. See Folger FPa60, ca. 1820-1825.

Friedman 1976, p. 212, n. 415, and p. 238.

Judging from the engraving after this painting, the canvas has been trimmed on all four sides. A restoration of 1988 helped to repair the abrasion of the paint film, due to a heavy handed cleaning in the past that particularly damaged the sky

Provenance: Commissioned by Alderman John Boydell for the Shakespeare Gallery; sold by lottery 28 January 1805 and won by William Tassie; sold by Christie 17 May 1805, no. 26, as "Trinculo and Caliban-admirably composed and painted," bought by Dr. Westrop for 11 guineas (£11.11.0); collection of D. Levin in 1910.

G. Michelmore & Co., Rare Books, Autographs, Manuscripts, 5 Royal Opera Arcade, Pall Mall, London SW1, February 1923, £125.

Exhibited: London, Boydell Shakespeare Gallery, "A Catlogue of the Pictures &c. in the Shakspeare Gallery, Pall-Mall" and "A Catalogue of Small Pictures Painted for the Shakspeare Gallery, Pall-Mall" (only one number sequence for both large and small paintings), 1802, no. 86; London, Boydell Shakespeare Gallery, "The Exhibition of the Shakspeare Galley, Pall-Mall," (last time paintings were shown together; preparatory to their sale), 1805, no. 97; London, Whitechapel Art Gallery, "Shakespeare Memorial and Theatrical Exhibition," 1910, no. 148, as "The Tempest"; Amherst, Mead Art Building, Amherst College, "Shakespeare, Hamlet, and Macbeth" (no catalogue), 1951; Amherst, Mead Art Building, Amherst College, "The Tempest" (no catalogue), 1951; As imagination bodies forth...' [paintings] Oct. 28, 1993-Feb.15, 1994.

Pressly, W.L. Paintings in the Folger Shakespeare Library, 59

Great Britain -- England.

FPa55

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