1775
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art
Dominant colour
Richard II is a 1775 by John Hamilton Mortimer, a Romanticism work, held at Cleveland Museum of Art.
The painting shows King Richard II with a skeletal figure of death looming over him. This image is dramatic and tense. The artist's use of shadows creates a sense of foreboding, which was a common theme in his work, often drawing from English literature for inspiration. You can learn more about this style by looking into the technique of chiaroscuro.
John Hamilton Mortimer supported the prevailing academic doctrine which located history painting at the top of the hierarchy of subject matter. Unlike many of his contemporaries, however, he turned to the great subjects of English literature for themes. From 1775 to 1776, Mortimer produced etchings of twelve Shakespearean characters, including King Lear, Ophelia, and Caliban. In this dramatic composition, the skeletal figure of death looms over the tense King Richard II. This rare signed proof is a marvelous example of Mortimer's Romantic sensibility. By the time he was twenty-three years…
Read the full account in the museum source.
John Hamilton Mortimer (17 September 1740 – 4 February 1779) was a British figure and landscape painter and printmaker, known for romantic paintings set in Italy, works depicting conversations, and works drawn in the…
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