The artwork titled “Hamlet and Horatio before the Grave Diggers” is a lithography piece created by renowned artist Eugene Delacroix in 1843. As a manifestation of the Romanticism art movement, the piece represents a literary painting genre and currently resides in the Brooklyn Museum, located in New York City, New York, United States.
In the artwork, we witness a scene from William Shakespeare’s iconic play “Hamlet,” intricately captured in monochrome. The central figures, Hamlet and Horatio, are depicted in conversation with two gravediggers. Hamlet, clad in a dark, flowing garment, stands with a posture that conveys engagement and perhaps contemplation, embodying the introspective nature that characterizes the Danish prince throughout the play. His companion Horatio appears partially obscured behind him, yet his presence is palpable as an observer and confidant.
The gravediggers are portrayed in the midst of their labor, with one seated on the ground holding up a skull, the symbol of mortality that famously triggers Hamlet’s soliloquy on the nature of life and death. The second gravedigger, leaning on his spade, is shown in active conversation with the nobles. Their attire and demeanor, in contrast to Hamlet and Horatio’s, underscore their status and earthy connection to the grave, which they so casually excavate.
Delacroix’s use of light and shadow, as well as delicate line work in the lithography process, has artfully captured the interplay of ideas about existence, death, and the human condition—themes central to Romanticism. The setting is brief, but replete with evocative details: a castle in the distance, a looming sky, and faint outlines of a barren landscape, which together create a scene that is steeped in melancholic contemplation, typical of the Romantic era’s interest in emotion and the sublime.