King Lear, Act I, Scene 1

Henry Fuseli turned to Shakespearean subjects during his extensive studies in Rome, bringing the grandeur, compositional drama and mannered linear style of Michelangelo and classical sculpture to the psychological intensity of the Bard's narratives. Fuseli contributed this climactic opening scene from King Lear to John Boydell's Shakespeare Gallery. Lasting from 1786 to 1803, Boydell's gallery capitalized on eighteenth-century claims for Shakespeare as the embodiment of native artistic genius and a muse for the British school of history painting. Over one hundred paintings after scenes from Shakespeare's plays were displayed, as well as disseminated in a subscription print series. In this scene, King Lear disowns his favorite daughter Cordelia after she refuses to exaggerate her love to secure her inheritance. Cordelia's banishment leaves the English throne to be divided between her false and fawning sisters Goneril and Regan, pictured on the right with their greedy husbands.