Nature Unveiling Herself to the Infant Shakespeare

This is often thought to be a study for the cartoon of the same name in the Walker's collection (WAG 4043). Romney's fascination with Shakespeare found expression in a large range of sketches, drawings and paintings. The drawing was originally part of a volume of drawings which was broken up for sale in 1966. This drawing demonstrates Romney's skill as a draughtsman: using minimal lines he manages to convey strong, expresive figures which seem to interact with one another. It has been argued (Kidson, 2002) that this drawing was in fact made after the large cartoon. The drawing has been cut and may have been intended to develop the ideas of the earlier work in preparation for a painting.