Anne Page inviting Slender to dinner [graphic] / after Robert Smirke.
Items
Linked e-resources
Linked Resource
Digital image(s) of Folger Shakespeare Library FPb43
Details
Title
Anne Page inviting Slender to dinner [graphic] / after Robert Smirke.
Created/published
Early nineteenth century.
Description
1 painting on canvas : oil ; 58.9 x 46 cm + frame ca. 27.5 x 23.5 in.
Associated name
Smirke, Robert, 1752-1845, artist.
Summary
The scene is before the door of Anne Page's house, where she invited Slender, her awkward suitor, to dinner. Slender's servant Simple stands behind him. Robert Smirke executed this subject for Boydell, and two engravings were made, one for the large series of paintings and one for the small. Only a fragment of Smirke's canvas survives, showing the figure of Anne Page. She is dressed in black over white with a white lace ruff, a red heart with gold trim hangs down by her side, and her cuffs and veil are gray. In the Folger picture, however, her ruffs are white and her veil red with a hint of stripes. This version is almost certinaly after one of the Boydell prints rather than the painting. In the small print the gate on the left has five vertical slats, while in the large on it has four. The Folger picture also shows four slats but its proportions are slightly different and it varies in small details from either engraving.
Note
Original painting: A fragment of the canvas showing only the picture of Anne Page (42 x 25 in.) is all that has survived. It is in the Royal Shakespeare Theatre Picture Gallery.
Engravings after original: J. P. Simon, published 24 December 1793 for the large series of prints, 22 x 16 in. (image); M. Haughton, published 4 June 1801 for the 1802 Boydell edition of Shakespeare's plays, 10 x 6 1/8 in. (image and margin). The image proved popular enough that it was engraved on a smaller scale at least five more times.
Title from Pressly.
Engravings after original: J. P. Simon, published 24 December 1793 for the large series of prints, 22 x 16 in. (image); M. Haughton, published 4 June 1801 for the 1802 Boydell edition of Shakespeare's plays, 10 x 6 1/8 in. (image and margin). The image proved popular enough that it was engraved on a smaller scale at least five more times.
Title from Pressly.
Source of acquisition
Maggs Bros., Rare Books, Prints and Autographs, 34-35 Conduit St., New Bond St., London, April 1925, £42, as by Smirke.
Exhibited
Exhibited: Washington, D.C., Federal Reserve Board, "Eighteenth- and Nineteenth Century English Painting," 1976-1977, no. 20, as by Smirke.
Cited/described in
Pressly, W.L. Paintings in the Folger Shakespeare Library, 72
Linked resources
Digital image(s) of Folger Shakespeare Library FPb43
Genre/form
Paintings.
Place of creation/publication
Great Britain -- England.
Item Details
Call number
FPb43
Folger-specific note
This record contains unverified data from a re-keying contract and may contain incorrect or incomplete text. Please consult Curator for assistance.
Folger accession
cs1405