Zoffany, Johann
Zoffany, Johann (1735–1810),German painter. Zoffany painted numerous portraits of David Garrick and his contemporaries. Garrick appeared almost annually in Zoffany's submissions to exhibitions held by the Society of Artists between 1762 and 1766. These portraits, depicting Garrick ‘in character’, were central to the actor's self-styling as a stage hero. Later portraits such as Mr and Mrs Garrick before the Temple of Shakespeare, 1763 (depicting the couple at their estate in Hampton, Middlesex), characterize the actor as a gentleman of taste and refinement. As upwardly mobile as Garrick, Zoffany went on to win several commissions from the royal family. Many of Zoffany's ‘stage’ portraits from productions of Shakespeare were engraved and entered mass circulation: these include Garrick and Mrs Pritchard in Macbeth (made into a mezzotint, 1776) and Mr Powell as Posthumus (mezzotint, 1770).
Catherine Tite
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