Coriolanus: "The God of Soldiers, to shame invulnerable..." (Shakespeare, Coriolanus, Act 5)
Medium
Etching and stipple engraving
Dimensions
image: 14 x 17 5/16 in. (35.5 x 44 cm) oval sheet: 15 13/16 x 19 5/16 in. (40.2 x 49 cm)
Classification
Prints
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gift of Miss Bertha P. Dennis, 1946
Accession Number
46.44.6
Tags
Art Historical Context
This evocative print, titled *Coriolanus: "The God of Soldiers, to shame inv..."* from Shakespeare's *Coriolanus* (Act 5), captures a moment of vulnerability in the Roman general's tragic downfall. Designed by the acclaimed neoclassical painter Angelica Kmann—one of the few women elected to London's Royal Academy—and brilliantly engraved by Francesco Bartolozzi, it was published by James Birch on November 3, 1785. The scene likely features Coriolanus amid his family, including women and children, as suggested by the tags, highlighting themes of duty, honor, and maternal persuasion that resonat...
About the Artist
Francesco Bartolozzi|Angelica Kauffmann|James Birchall|William Shakespeare · 1727–1815
Francesco Bartolozzi (1727–1815) was an Italian engraver whose most productive period was spent in London, where he became the leading exponent of stipple engraving and a founding member of the Royal Academy. Born in Florence and trained first as a painter before turning to engraving in Venice, he established his reputation in Rome before being recruited by the English Royal Librarian Richard Dalt...