Florizel and Perdita

Albert Pinkham Ryder, Florizel and Perdita, by 1887, oil on canvas mounted on fiberboard, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of John Gellatly, 1929.6.94
Copied Albert Pinkham Ryder, Florizel and Perdita, by 1887, oil on canvas mounted on fiberboard, 12 1⁄4 x 7 1⁄4 in. (31.1 x 18.4 cm), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of John Gellatly, 1929.6.94
Free to use

Artwork Details

Title
Florizel and Perdita
Artist
Date
by 1887
Location
Dimensions
12 1⁄4 x 7 1⁄4 in. (31.1 x 18.4 cm)
Credit Line
Gift of John Gellatly
Mediums
Mediums Description
oil on canvas mounted on fiberboard
Classifications
Subjects
  • Literature — Shakespeare — Winter’s Tale
  • Recreation — courting
  • Landscape
  • Figure group
Object Number
1929.6.94
Linked Open Data
https://edan.si.edu/saam/id/object/1929.6.94

Artwork Description

Albert Pinkham Ryder painted several images based on plays by William Shakespeare. His favorite play was The Winter’s Tale, and this small image shows the characters Prince Florizel and the shepherd girl Perdita, who he was forbidden to marry. They discovered that Perdita was actually the banished daughter of a king, however, and the lovers were reunited. Ryder never married and constantly mourned the absence of love in his life. (Broun, Albert Pinkham Ryder, 1989) He may have been comparing himself to Prince Florizel and hoping that he, too, would fall in love with a “princess.”