Shakespeare’s Characters: Playing the Part

Four hundred years after his death, the Toledo Museum of Art honors the great playwright William Shakespeare with an exhibition exploring The Bard’s band of characters, from the comedic to the tragic. Approximately 30 paintings, prints, sculptures, photographs, and illustrated books bring the beloved writer’s works to life. Fred Wilson’s sculpture Iago’s Mirror (2009) references “Othello” and Arthur Hughes’s painting Ophelia (1865) takes its subject from “Hamlet.” Other works dramatically represent characters or scenes from “Romeo and Juliet,” “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” “Antony and Cleopatra,” “As You Like It,” “Julius Caesar,” “King Lear,” “Macbeth,” “Measure for Measure,” “The Merry Wives of Windsor,” “Troilus and Cressida,” and “The Tempest.” A digital copy of Shakespeare’s First Folio (1623) and an original copy of Shakespeare’s Second Folio (1632) will also be on view in the exhibition for visitors to enjoy.

Credit: Exhibition overview from museum website.