Falstaff with Doll Tearsheet
(c. 1738)
- Medium
- oil on canvas
- Measurements
- 130.7 × 162.7 cm
- Place/s of Execution
- London, England
- Inscription
- inscribed in brown paint l.c.r.: PM
- Accession Number
- 2023.4
- Department
- International Painting
- Credit Line
- National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Gift of Wendy King through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program, 2023 - Gallery location
- 17th to 18th Century European Paintings Gallery
Level 2, NGV International - About this work
-
Philippe Mercier moved to Paris early in his career where he became part of the burgeoning Rococo movement. In 1716 he went to England where he found great success and played a critical role in popularising Rococo art in that country. This work is one of a group of Mercier’s paintings illustrating scenes from Shakespeare’s play Henry IV, Part 2 where his classic buffoonish character John Falstaff first encounters the sex worker, Doll Tearsheet. A significant Shakespearean revival took place during the early eighteenth century, and Mercier’s work reflects this growing interest.
