Robert Walter Weir, The Merry Wives of Windsor: Dr. Caius, Simple and Dame Quickly, 1830, oil on canvas, 20 7⁄8 x 17 1⁄2 in. (53.1 x 44.5 cm.), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum Purchase, 1991.66
Free to use
Copied
Artwork Details
- Title
- The Merry Wives of Windsor: Dr. Caius, Simple and Dame Quickly
- Artist
- Date
- 1830
- Location
- Dimensions
- 20 7⁄8 x 17 1⁄2 in. (53.1 x 44.5 cm.)
- Credit Line
- Museum Purchase
- Mediums
- Mediums Description
- oil on canvas
- Classifications
- Subjects
- Figure group
- State of being — emotion — anger
- Allegory — death
- State of being — emotion — fear
- Literature — Shakespeare — Merry Wives of Windsor
- Architecture Interior
- Object Number
- 1991.66
Artwork Description
American artists, actors, and writers during the nineteenth century were still heavily influenced by English literature, and Shakespeare’s plays enjoyed many revivals. In this painting, Robert W. Weir illustrated a moment in The Merry Wives of Windsor when a character finds his rival’s servant in his closet. Weir gave the two men comical expressions of horror to emphasize the slapstick nature of the scene.