In Tate Britain
Walk Through British Art: 1780
Free entry- Artist
- James Barry 1741–1806
- Medium
- Oil paint on canvas
- Dimensions
- Support: 2692 x 3670 mm
frame: 3026 x 4050 x 195 mm - Collection
- Tate
- Acquisition
- Purchased 1962
- Reference
- T00556
Display caption
Barry was a passionate champion of neo-classical history painting on a vast scale. After initial success he became a martyr to its cause, dying neglected and convinced of the hostility of the art establishment. This is one of Barry's most ambitious paintings, made for Alderman Boydell's 'Shakespeare Gallery', a collection of engraved scenes from Shakespeare by celebrated artists of the day. Boydell held an exhibition of the original pictures in 1789. Here, a heartbroken Lear supports the body of his beloved daughter Cordelia. Barry has set the tragic scene in an heroic landscape with Stonehenge in the background.
Gallery label, September 2004
Does this text contain inaccurate information or language that you feel we should improve or change? We would like to hear from you.
Film and audio
King Lear Weeping over the Dead Body of Cordelia by James Barry
RSC actor, Greg Hicks reflects on the complexities of Shakespeare's tragic hero and how the artist has explored these ...
King Lear Weeping over the Dead Body of Cordelia by James Barry
Tate curator, Tim Batchelor, talks about composition and the visual storytelling that appear in this picture.
Explore
- architecture(42,202)
- monuments(1,398)
- residential(5,707)
- tent(84)
- emotions, concepts and ideas(16,625)
- emotions and human qualities(5,342)
- nature(46,444)
- objects(23,547)
- clothing and personal effects(6,006)
- weapons(992)
- spear(111)
- people(35,699)
- actions: postures and motions(9,240)
- arm / arms raised(840)
- lying down(387)
- reclining(807)
- body(4,912)
- corpse(99)
- adults(23,316)
- actions: processes and functions(2,169)
- carrying / holding(877)
- actions: expressive(2,677)
- supporting(92)
- actions: postures and motions(9,240)
- places(42,425)
- historical: imagined views(123)
- Stonehenge(1)
- historical: imagined views(123)
- work and occupations(14,375)
- society(35,345)
- birth to death(1,457)
- death(676)
- family(4,131)
- birth to death(1,457)
- literature and fiction(3,198)
- characters(458)
You might like
James Barry Satan, Sin and Death
c.1792–1808
James Barry King George and Queen Charlotte
first published 1792
James Barry Study of a Nude Recumbent Woman
date not known
James Barry The Thames, or the Triumph of Navigation
first published 1792
James Barry The Distribution of Premiums in the Society of Arts
first published 1792
James Barry William Pitt, Earl of Chatham
1778–1808
James Barry Reserved Knowledge
1795–1808
James Barry The Phoenix or the Resurrection of Freedom
1776–1808
James Barry Sacra Christi Familia
c.1776–1808
James Barry The Judgment of Paris. Verso: Study for the Same Subject
date not known
James Barry A Grecian Harvest Home
first published 1792
James Barry Self-Portrait, Three Quarters to Left
date not known
James Barry The Distribution of Premiums in the Society of Arts
first published 1792
James Barry Orpheus
first published 1792
James Barry The Glorious Sextumvirate
1795