after Sir Joshua Reynolds

Puck is a household fairy and prankster. In A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Shakespeare casts him as the servant of Oberon, king of the fairies. This is a study for Joshua Reynolds’s painting for the Shakespeare Gallery, which also published luxurious illustrated editions of Shakespeare’s plays. Reynolds imagined Puck sitting on a toadstool. He has pointed ears, like ancient Greek images of Pan, the mischievous classical god of the woods. Pointed ears became a common feature in depictions of fairies.