'Falstaff's Assignation with Mrs Ford', George Clint

Artwork details

Artist

George Clint (1770‑1854)

Title

Falstaff's Assignation with Mrs Ford

Date ?1830-1, exhibited 1831

MediumOil paint on canvas

Dimensionssupport: 768 x 641 mm frame: 1000x860x150 mm

Collection

Tate

Acquisition Presented by Robert Vernon 1847

Reference

N00377

Not on display

Display caption

This illustrates a scene from Shakespeare's comedy 'The Merry Wives of Windsor'. The fat knight Sir John Falstaff has fallen on hard times. So he sets out to woo Mistress Ford and Mistress Page, both of whom hold the purse strings in their households. He writes identical love letters to both women. Aware of Falstaff's intentions, the wives aim to tease him and then show him up as a fool. Clint shows Falstaff making his first approach to Mistress Ford whose co-conspirator, Mistress Page, exits to the left. Her announcement of Master Ford's imminent return is the signal for Falstaff to be hidden in a laundry basket and dumped in the Thames.

March 1993