The Murder of Polonius (Act III, Scene IV from Hamlet)
Eugène Delacroix
(French, 1798–1863)
1843
Medium/TechniqueLithograph
DimensionsSheet: 55 x 36 cm (21 5/8 x 14 3/16 in.)
Image: 24.2 x 19.4 cm (9 1/2 x 7 5/8 in.)
Image: 24.2 x 19.4 cm (9 1/2 x 7 5/8 in.)
Credit LineGift of Rose-Marie and Eijk van Otterloo
Accession number2010.1322.9
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One of a complete set of thirteen lithographs for "Hamlet, Treize Sujets Dessinés par Eug. Delacroix" with the original printed wrappers. Hamlet. Treize Sujets Dessinés par Eug, Delacroix. Paris: Gihaut frères, 1843. The first edition was published by Delacroix in 1843 and comprised thirteen lithographs. A later edition, published in 1864, added three additional lithographs: Delteil 107, Hamlet and Ophelia [2010.1322.5]; Delteil114, Ophelia's Song; and Delteil 117, Hamlet and Laertes in Ophelia's Grave [2010.1322.14].
This edition consisted of 80 sets, 60 on white wove paper, as here, and 20 on chine. The printed wrapper of the set is extremely rare.
ProvenanceBetween the 1950s and 1980s, acquired by Samuel Josefowitz, Lausanne, Switzerland and Whitchurch, England; March 19, 2004, sold by Josefowitz to Eijk and Rose-Marie van Otterloo, Marblehead, MA and Naples, FL; 2010, year-end gift of Eijk and Rose-Marie van Otterloo to the MFA. (Accession Date: January 26, 2011)