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In the Library: Will’s World—European Literature in Shakespeare’s time

Past Exhibition

November 27 – December 29, 2023
East Building, Ground Level—Library

Weekdays, 11:00 a.m.–4:30 p.m.

In conjunction with the Shakespeare Everywhere festival, the National Gallery of Art Library presents Will’s World: European Literature in Shakespeare’s Time, an exhibition of selected old and rare books from our special collections. Join us for a close look at different texts, including both classical and modern literary sources, that inspired playwrights like Shakespeare. 

During the Renaissance, English theater—like many aspects of European culture at the the time—was influenced by the revival of ancient Greek and Roman ideas. Roman plays, histories, and literature all survived the Middle Ages as manuscripts, and the newly invented movable-type printing press allowed these works to be widely distributed in Europe in the 15th and 16th centuries. 

Books originally written in Latin or Greek were gradually translated into everyday languages like English, inspiring a new generation of writers, including Shakespeare. Elements of plots and characters that he used in his scripts may be found in a variety of both ancient and modern sources, which also likely influenced his famous use of metaphor and wordplay. This exhibition shares the books that helped to shape the Bard’s imagination.

Explore Selected Works

Will’s World: European Literature in Shakespeare’s time

Titus Maccius Plautus (author), M. Plauti linguae latinae Principis comoediae (Venice, 1511). National Gallery of Art Library, David K. E. Bruce Fund 
Will’s World: European Literature in Shakespeare’s time

Terence (author), Niccolo Forteguerri (translator), Pub. Terentii Comoediae (Urbino, 1736). National Gallery of Art Library, David K. E. Bruce Fund  
Will’s World: European Literature in Shakespeare’s time

Plutarch (author), Gérard de Vercel (editor), Lives. Latin (Venice, 1516). National Gallery of Art Library, David K. E. Bruce Fund 
Will’s World: European Literature in Shakespeare’s time

Suetonius (author), George de la Bouthière (translator), Vitae XII. Caesarum (Lyon, 1556). National Gallery of Art Library, David K. E. Bruce Fund 
Will’s World: European Literature in Shakespeare’s time

John Stow (author), Johannes Kip (illustrator), A survey of the cities of London and Westminster, and the borough of Southwark (London, 1754-55, 6th edition). National Gallery of Art Library, David K. E. Bruce Fund 
Will’s World: European Literature in Shakespeare’s time

Lodovico Ariosto (author), Girola mo Porro (illustrator), Orlando furioso (Venice, 1584). National Gallery of Art Library,  David K. E. Bruce Fund 
Will’s World: European Literature in Shakespeare’s time

Baldassare Castiglione (author), Raphael (illustrator), George Vertue (engraver), Libro del cortegiano. English and Italian (London, 1727). National Gallery of Art Library, David K. E. Bruce Fund 
Will’s World: European Literature in Shakespeare’s time

Ernest Philip Alphonse Law (author), Benoit Arlaud (illustrator), Gaspard Duchange (engraver), The History of Hampton Court Palace (London, 1888). National Gallery of Art Library, Grega and Leo A. Daly III Fund for Architectural Books 
Will’s World: European Literature in Shakespeare’s time

Dorothy N. Stewart (artist), W. Shakespeare’s Hamlet, Prince of Denmark (Santa Fe, NM: Pictograph Press, 1949). Copy 73 of 100. National Gallery of Art Library, David K. E. Bruce Fund. © 1949 Pictograph Press, Santa FE, NM
Will’s World: European Literature in Shakespeare’s time

Sicille (author), Blason des couleurs en armes, livrées et divises (Paris, 1540). National Gallery of Art Library, David K. E. Bruce Fund 
Will’s World: European Literature in Shakespeare’s time

János Zsámboki (author), Emblemata, cum aliquot nummis antiqui operis (Antwerp, 1564). National Gallery of Art Library, David K. E. Bruce Fund 
Will’s World: European Literature in Shakespeare’s time

Ovid (author), Gabriele Simeoni (translator), Bernard Salomon (illustrator), La vita et Metamorfoseo d’Ovidio, figurato & abbreuiato in forma d’epigrammi (Lyon, 1559). National Gallery of Art Library, David K. E. Bruce Fund 
Will’s World: European Literature in Shakespeare’s time

Ovid (author), George Sandys (translator), Francis Cleyn (illustrator), Salomon Savery (engraver), Metamorphoses. English (London, 1640). National Gallery of Art Library, David K. E. Bruce Fund 
Will’s World: European Literature in Shakespeare’s time

Andrea Alciati (author), Pierre Eskrich (illustrator), Emblematum liber, Italian (Lyon, 1551). National Gallery of Art Library, David K. E. Bruce Fund 
Will’s World: European Literature in Shakespeare’s time

Francis Quarles (author), Emblemes (London, 1736). National Gallery of Art Library, William H. Gerdts and Abigail Booth Gerdts Collection 
Will’s World: European Literature in Shakespeare’s time

Otto van Veen (author), Gijsbert van Veen (illustrator), Q. Horatii Flacci emblemata (Antwerp, 1612). National Gallery of Art Library, David K. E. Bruce Fund
Will’s World: European Literature in Shakespeare’s time

Carlo Cantù (author), Stefano Della Bella (illustrator), Cicalamento in canzonetta ridicolose, o, Vero trattato di matrimonio trá Bvffetto e Colombina comici (Florence, 1646). National Gallery of Art Library, David K. E. Bruce Fund 
Will’s World: European Literature in Shakespeare’s time

Russell Maret (artist), The players & paradigms of the Commedia dell’Arte (New York: Kuboaa, 1996). National Gallery of Art Library, Gift of Patricia G. England. © 1996 Kuboaa, New York
Will’s World: European Literature in Shakespeare’s time

Robert Wilkinson (author), Theatrum illustrate (London, 1825). National Gallery of Art Library, David K. E. Bruce Fund 
Will’s World: European Literature in Shakespeare’s time

Joseph Furttenbach (author), Johann Jacob Campanus (illustrator), Matthaeus Rembold (engraver), Architectura recreationis (Augsburg, 1640). National Gallery of Art Library, David K. E. Bruce Fund  

Dive Deeper

William Shakespeare’s Plays in Art

See how six artists envisioned the Bard’s plays, from “Romeo and Juliet” to “King Lear.”

Organization
Organized by the National Gallery of Art, Washington

Passes
Admission is always free and passes are not required

Banner detail: Ernest Philip Alphonse Law (author), Benoit Arlaud (illustrator), Gaspard Duchange (engraver), The History of Hampton Court Palace (London, 1888). National Gallery of Art Library, Grega and Leo A. Daly III Fund for Architectural Books