Mrs. Abington as Thalia
Francesco Bartolozzi|Richard Cosway|Simon Watts|Frances Abington|William Shakespeare
August 20, 1783 · Stipple engraving and etching, printed in brown ink; first state of seven · Drawings and Prints
Beauty and talent propelled Fanny Barton (later Mrs. Abington) to fame, from humble beginnings as a flower girl and milliner's assistant. Associated with the Drury Lane Theatre, she excelled in contemporary comic roles by Richard Brinsley Sheridan and Colley Cibber and, in Shakespeare's plays, performed Ophelia, Desdemona, Beatrice and Portia. Horace Walpole compared her favorably to Garrick, and the artist James Northcote noted that, "in her acting she has all the simplicity of nature and not the least tincture of the theatrical." In this image she embodies Thalia, the muse of music, dance, comedy and idyllic poetry, to crown Shakespeare with laurels.
- Artist
- Francesco Bartolozzi|Richard Cosway|Simon Watts|Frances Abington|William Shakespeare
- Date
- August 20, 1783
- Medium
- Stipple engraving and etching, printed in brown ink; first state of seven
- Department
- Drawings and Prints
- Credit line
- Harris Brisbane Dick Fund, 1917
