How Did Shakespeare Influence His Work

Let me paint a picture. You are an artist, like a painter or sculptor, during anytime between the 1600’s and 1900’s. During this time period, Shakespeare is a well-known figure in Europe and his works are being read and seen by everyone. He is a source of inspiration, so of course, you would want to use his work as an inspiration for your own artwork. Like you, many other artists used Shakespeare and his works as inspiration for their own works of art(paintings, sculptures, etc.). As you can see, Shakespeare’s works influenced visual arts created by artists in Europe during the 1600’s to 1900’s.
Shakespeare is known for his well written plays and poems filled with unique characters and creative plots. Shakespeare’s works were well written and
He was a household figure and influence for many in Europe, so it isn’t hard to see why portraits and sculptures of him would be made. There is a terracotta sculpture called William Shakespeare by Louis François Roubiliac for the actor David Garrick in 1757. The Folger Shakespeare Library states that “This statue is an excellent example of how Shakespeare the man has been romanticized over the centuries”(“Works of Art”). Not only was Shakespeare’s work loved, but as a person Shakespeare was famed. Since he was famed, like the actors, artists wanted to paint portraits of and make sculptures of Shakespeare as
This led to the art having more success because as The Art Journal states, “...so far as a successful result is concerned; still more so it is when the subject is not of his own selection; for an artist of talent cannot conjure up his visions at will... ”(95). This is saying that if the subject of the painting is already chosen and created for the artist, then their piece of art will most likely be more successful. The artwork would be more successful because the subject picked, a scene from a play by Shakespeare, it is a subject that is known to appeal to a large group of people. An example of a painting inspired by a Shakespeare play is Ophelia, by Sir John Everett Millais. This painting shows Ophelia, a character from the play Hamlet, who is lying in the river and beginning to drown. Since everyone was inspired by this scene from the play, everyone knew what the painting was of and the painting instantly gained huge