Boydell's Illustrations of Shakespeare, Vol. I: Macbeth, Act I, Scene V (after Richard Westall)

This scene from Macbeth, engraved for John Boydell’s Shakespeare Gallery, likely depicts the renowned actress Sarah Siddons, who played Lady Macbeth on the English stage from 1785 until her retirement performance in 1812. Her performances reputedly caused strong audience reactions, in particular among women, who would emit shrieks and faint with fear. This portrait, with its dramatic chiaroscuro and thrusting fist, seeks likewise to elicit a fearful response in the viewer. In this typically Neoclassical representation of the tragic, the figure’s statuesque quality echoes eighteenth-century actors’ practice of studying antique sculpture as a model for graceful form and expressive gestures.