The Palace at Westminster: King Henry and the Prince of Wales (Shakespeare, King Henry IV, Part 2, Act 4, Scene 4)
first published 1795; reissued 1852
Medium
Stipple engraving
Dimensions
Plate: 22 5/8 × 16 1/16 in. (57.4 × 40.8 cm) Sheet: 27 13/16 × 21 5/8 in. (70.7 × 55 cm)
Classification
Prints
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gertrude and Thomas Jefferson Mumford Collection, Gift of Dorothy Quick Mayer, 1942
Accession Number
42.119.546
Tags
Art Historical Context
This stipple engraving captures a pivotal moment from Shakespeare’s *Henry IV, Part 2* (Act 4, Scene 4), set in the Palace of Westminster. King Henry IV, frail and near death, addresses his son, the Prince of Wales—the future Henry V—in a scene charged with themes of succession, remorse, and the burdens of kingship. The composition distills the emotional weight of the play’s exploration of father-son reconciliation and the transition of power. Published first in 1795 as part of John Boydell’s celebrated Shakespeare Gallery project and reissued in 1852, the print reflects a late-eighteenth-cen...
About the Artist
Shearjashub Spooner|John & Josiah Boydell|Robert Thew|Josiah Boydell|William Shakespeare (American|British|British|British) · 1809 |1760 |1786 |1564 –1859 |1797 |1804 |1616
American, Brandon, Vermont 1809–1859 Plainfield, New Jersey|British, ca. 1765–1797 London|British, 1786–1804|British, Stratford-upon-Avon 1564–1616 Stratford-upon-Avon