Falstaff im Wäschekorb

1792

Henry Fuseli1741 Zürich – 1825 Putney Hill/London
We have 120 artworks by Henry Fuseli online.
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The impoverished landed aristocrat John Falstaff seeks the favor of the married middle-class wives Mrs. Page and Mrs. Ford. The rendezvous that they grant him turns out to be a trap: as agreed, a lad announces the return of the suspicious husband, whereupon the cavalier has to squeeze himself into a laundry basket, which is then poured into the Thames by the servants of the house (Shakespeare, The Merry Wives of Windsor, III, 3). The ladies' clothing corresponds to the fashion at the time the painting was created; Mrs. Ford (right) resembles Füssli's wife Sophia. Füssli presented the painting at the annual exhibition of the Royal Academy in 1792.
Also known as
Falstaff im Wäschekorb. Shakespeare, The Merry Wives of Windsor III, 2 Falstaff in the Laundry Basket Falstaff dans la corbeille à linge
Medium
Oil on canvas
Dimensions
image: 137.5 x 170.5 cm
Inventory number
2541
Credit line
Kunsthaus Zürich, 1941