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  • John Philip Kemble as Hamlet

Sir Thomas Lawrence

John Philip Kemble as Hamlet

1801

Image released under Creative Commons CC-BY-NC-ND (3.0 Unported)

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Not on display

Artist
Sir Thomas Lawrence 1769–1830
Medium
Oil paint on canvas
Dimensions
Support: 3061 × 1981 mm
Collection
Tate
Acquisition
Presented by King William IV 1836
Reference
N00142

Display caption

Kemble was one of the most successful English actors of his time. This painting shows him in the starring role of William Shakespeare’s Hamlet. It was one of four large canvases that Lawrence painted of Kemble in various dramatic roles.
All four works were exhibited at the Royal Academy. Their size meant that they could be been seen above the heads of the crowd. This was a strategy often used by artists to make sure they gained the attention of the press.

Gallery label, July 2019

Does this text contain inaccurate information or language that you feel we should improve or change? We would like to hear from you.

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  • Sir Thomas Lawrence George, Prince Regent, later King George IV

    1818
  • Sir Thomas Lawrence Miss Laura Dorothea Ross (Mrs Francis Robertson)

    c.1798–1804
  • Sir Thomas Lawrence Mrs Siddons

    1804
  • Sir Thomas Lawrence The Countess of Darnley

    c.1825–30
  • John Opie William Siddons

    date not known
  • Sir Thomas Lawrence Mrs Siddons, ? as Mrs Haller in ‘The Stranger’

    c.1796–8
  • Sir Thomas Lawrence Princess Lieven

    ?1812–20
  • Sir Thomas Lawrence Lady Georgiana Fane

    ?1806
  • John Opie Portrait of a Lady in the Character of Cressida

    exhibited 1800
    On display at Tate Britain part of Historic and Modern British Art
  • Sir Thomas Lawrence Philip Sansom

    c.1805–10
    On display at Tate Britain part of Historic and Modern British Art
  • Richard Westall Philip Sansom, Jun., as a Child

    date not known
  • George Dawe Imogen Found in the Cave of Belarius

    exhibited 1809
    On display at Tate Britain part of Historic and Modern British Art
  • Sir Thomas Lawrence Homer Reciting his Poems

    1790
    On display at Tate Britain part of Historic and Modern British Art
  • Attributed to Richard Cosway A Lady (? Harriet Mellon) as a Sibyl

    c.1805
  • Sir Thomas Lawrence Philadelphia Hannah, 1st Viscountess Cremorne

    exhibited 1789
    On display at Tate Britain part of Historic and Modern British Art

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