As we have seen over the course of the exhibition, Shakespearean texts were continually interpreted and re-written for different audiences, in different media, often with radically different conclusions drawn by author or artist.  The Yale University Art Gallery has highlighted one example of this process in a display drawn from their permanent collections, on view through June 10, of the American artist Edwin Austin Abbey’s drafts and revisions towards his final painting of a scene from Richard III.

Edwin Austin Abbey’s “Richard, Duke of Gloucester, and the Lady Anne,” 1896.  From the Edwin Austin Abbey Memorial Collection, Yale University Art Gallery.  Call number: 1937.2224

Below, a scene and study towards the portrait.

Duke of Gloucester and Lady Anne, scene from Richard III.  From the Edwin Austin Abbey Memorial Collection, Yale University Art Gallery.  Call number: 1937.2218