Hours of the exhibition are Monday, noon to 4:30 p.m., and Tuesday through Friday, 10:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., except federal holidays.
Highlights of the installation include Ovid's Metamorphoses, a source for Titus Andronicus, the poem Venus and Adonis, A Midsummer Night's Dream, and The Merry Wives of Windsor. Other selections include Livy's Roman History, a source for the poem The Rape of Lucrece and Coriolanus; a special copy of Livy that was annotated with illustrations by Shakespeare contemporary Nicholas Udall; and Plutarch's Lives, a source for Julius Caesar, Timon of Athens, and Antony and Cleopatra.
"The National Gallery is pleased to present these beautifully illustrated treasures from our collection that deepen our understanding of the author's genius for reflecting his times as well as universal themes," said Earl A. Powell III, director, National Gallery of Art.
Curator and Related Activities
The curator of the exhibition is Neal Turtell, executive librarian of the National Gallery of Art.
Other activities at the National Gallery that are related to Shakespeare in Washington include:
The Artist's Vision: Romantic Traditions in Britain, on view in the West Building print galleries through March 18, highlights British prints and drawings from late- 18th through early 20th centuries. Included in the exhibition is Dante Gabriel Rossetti's large and dramatic chalk drawing Desdemona's Death-Song (1878/1881), on view for the first time since it was acquired by the Gallery, and Shakespearean images such as William Blake's watercolor Queen Katherine's Dream (1825) and John Hamilton Mortimer's Caliban (1775). This exhibition is supported by a generous grant from the Thaw Charitable Trust.
The Othello Film Festival, presented from January 5 through 13, compares three different cinematic renderings of Shakespeare's Othello: Orson Welles' The Tragedy of Othello: The Moor of Venice (1952), in which the distinguished actor cast himself in the leading role; Stuart Burge's Othello (1965), starring Laurence Olivier as Othello and Maggie Smith as Desdemona; and O, the stunning and controversial 2001 adaptation set in a contemporary high school, directed by Tim Blake Nelson.
Three Sunday concerts in the West Garden Court include music from Shakespeare's era, with soprano Ellen Hargis and lutenist Paul O'Dette performing music for voice and lute on January 14 and the Baltimore Consort performing music for a Renaissance chamber ensemble on January 21. On January 28, the Alexandria Symphony Orchestra, under the direction of Kim Allen Kluge, performs colorful compositions by Benjamin Britten and Elvis Costello based on Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream.
Gallery Talks will focus on objects related to Shakespeare. They include Edouard Manet's The Tragic Actor (Rouvière as Hamlet) (1866), an anonymous 16th-century portrait of the Earl of Essex; and Dante Gabriel Rossetti's large drawing, Desdemona's Death-Song. Staff lecturers will also lead groups on tours in the exhibition The Artist's Vision: Romantic Traditions in Britain. -- www.nga.gov
Posted January 15th, 2007 by ruzik_tuzik
