George Romney
Copperplate engraving by Benjamin Smith for The Boydell Shakespeare Prints
London: J. & J. Boydell, 1799
The birth of Shakespeare, as described in Thomas Gray’s Progress of Poesy (1757), was a favorite subject of Romney’s. “Nature unveils her face to her favorite Child” with Comedy and Tragedy on either side of him. To the right of Nature are Love, Hatred & Jealousy; on her left, Anger, Envy, and Fear.