Hamlet and the Queen

Hamlet and the Queen is a seminal print created by the celebrated French Romantic painter Eugène Delacroix (French, 1798-1863) in 1834. This powerful representation of Shakespearian tragedy is rendered as a lithograph, executed in black ink on delicate off-white China paper, which was subsequently laid down onto a supportive sheet of white wove paper. Delacroix was deeply drawn to dramatic literary sources, and his interpretation of Hamlet represents a key moment in 19th-century French art, where emotional intensity and dynamic composition superseded the restraint of Neoclassicism.

The subject captures a pivotal, psychologically charged confrontation between the Prince of Denmark and his mother, Gertrude, in her chambers. Delacroix’s distinctive lithographic style emphasizes deep shadows and expressive line work, heightening the intense psychological drama inherent in the narrative. Unlike his large-scale oil paintings, the production of prints allowed Delacroix to disseminate his powerful vision of literary heroism and emotional turmoil to a wider audience in France and across Europe, establishing the artwork as a prominent example among European prints of the era.

This work is an important example of 19th-century French graphic arts and is currently housed in the collection of the Art Institute of Chicago, where it serves as a crucial reference point for the study of the artist’s graphic output. Although executed solely in black and white, the piece maintains the intense sense of movement and dramatic lighting often associated with Delacroix, utilizing contrast and texture to convey emotional urgency. As a major work from the 1830s, the lithograph illuminates the enduring influence of the Romantic movement on graphic arts in France.