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Beatrice

A work made of etching on cream wove paper.
CC0 Public Domain Designation

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  • A work made of etching on cream wove paper.

Date:

March 15, 1776 (originally published); published 1809

Artist:

John Hamilton Mortimer
English, 1740-1779

About this artwork

In Shakespeare’s Much Ado about Nothing, Beatrice and Benedick are the leading not-quite-lovers, whose verbal sparring delights both the audience and the other characters as their professed mutual hatred turns to love. In this etching, John Hamilton Mortimer captured both the pride and humor of the female half of this pair. The merry Beatrice seems to be caught in mid-repartee, with her mouth slightly open; Benedick has just inquired if his “dear Lady Disdain” is “yet living.” She laughingly responds with the jab quoted below the image.

Status

Currently Off View

Department

Prints and Drawings

Artist

John Hamilton Mortimer

Title

Beatrice

Place

England (Artist's nationality:)

Date  Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.

Published 1809

Medium

Etching on cream wove paper

Dimensions

Plate: 40.2 × 42.4 cm (15 7/8 × 16 3/4 in.); Sheet: 59.6 × 43.7 cm (23 1/2 × 17 1/4 in.)

Credit Line

Mary S. Adams Endowment

Reference Number

2001.131

IIIF Manifest  The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world.

Learn more.

https://api.artic.edu/api/v1/artworks/155622/manifest.json

Extended information about this artwork

Object information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. To help improve this record, please email . Information about image downloads and licensing is available here.

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