A Midsummer Night's Dream
Watercolour (Painting)
1908 (made)
1908 (made)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
Arthur Rackham produced this illustration for an edition of William Shakespeare’s play ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’, published in 1908 by Heinemann. From Act II, Scene 1, the drawing depicts a mermaid sitting on the back of a dolphin. It illustrates a memory that Oberon, the king of the Faeries, recounts to the character of Puck;
My gentle Puck, come hither. Thou rememberest
Since once I sat upon a promontory,
And heard a mermaid on a dolphin's back
Uttering such dulcet and harmonious breath
That the rude sea grew civil at her song
And certain stars shot madly from their spheres,
To hear the sea-maid's music.
My gentle Puck, come hither. Thou rememberest
Since once I sat upon a promontory,
And heard a mermaid on a dolphin's back
Uttering such dulcet and harmonious breath
That the rude sea grew civil at her song
And certain stars shot madly from their spheres,
To hear the sea-maid's music.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Title | A Midsummer Night's Dream (assigned by artist) |
| Materials and techniques | Pen and watercolour |
| Brief description | Watercolour, A Midsummer Night's Dream, by Arthur Rackham, 1908. |
| Physical description | Pen and watercolour entitled 'A Midsummer Night's Dream', depicting a mermaid on the back of a stylised dolphin. Elizabeth 1st is also depicted in a circular cameo at the bottom of the illustration. Signed and dated by the artist. |
| Dimensions |
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| Credit line | Bequeathed by Henry Louis Florence |
| Production | Drawn for Heinemann's edition of the play, published in 1908. |
| Subjects depicted | |
| Literary reference | Shakespeare, William <font -u>A Midsummer Night's Dream</font> |
| Summary | Arthur Rackham produced this illustration for an edition of William Shakespeare’s play ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’, published in 1908 by Heinemann. From Act II, Scene 1, the drawing depicts a mermaid sitting on the back of a dolphin. It illustrates a memory that Oberon, the king of the Faeries, recounts to the character of Puck; My gentle Puck, come hither. Thou rememberest Since once I sat upon a promontory, And heard a mermaid on a dolphin's back Uttering such dulcet and harmonious breath That the rude sea grew civil at her song And certain stars shot madly from their spheres, To hear the sea-maid's music. |
| Bibliographic reference | Anderson, Anne & Ovenden, Graham. The Truth About Faeries : from A Midsummer Night's Dream to Lord of the Rings Southampton : Southampton City Art Gallery, 2009
no. 28.3 |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | P.34-1917 |
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| Record created | February 17, 2003 |
| Record URL |
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