Allegory of Shakespeare’s Birth George Romney (Umkreis)

This unusual allegorical depiction shows William Shakespeare, portrayed as an infant, as a ‘natural genius’ to whom the personification of Nature reveals herself. Joy and Sorrow appear at his sides, whilst in the background the other human passions – love, hate, jealousy, anger, envy and fear – gather. Romney created the original composition around 1791/92 for the Shakespeare Gallery in London, founded by John and Josiah Boydell. The conception of the poet as a genius endowed with extraordinary creative talent from birth corresponds to a central tenet of late 18th-century Shakespearean veneration. At the same time, the composition deliberately plays upon the visual language of Christian Nativity and Adoration scenes: the naked boy at the centre, the figures surrounding him and the veiled yet revealed essence of nature lend the depiction the character of a secularised Nativity scene. Romney’s painting was disseminated in 1799 through an engraving by Benjamin Smith for the Boydell edition. This work thus stands in the direct tradition of one of the most original Shakespearean allegories in English art of the late 18th century. | 1734 Dalton-in-Furness – Kendal 1802 | 15.-18. Jahrhundert | Gemälde | Nummer: 26x1745 | Provenance: Internationale Privatsammlung.

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