ford madox brown - eTheses Repository - University of Birmingham

King Lear whilst Brown was living in Paris. 35
Although the publication of Delacroix’s illustrations for Hamlet may have inspired
Brown’s project this link is not reflected in the style of Brown’s drawings. A
comparison of Cordelia at Lear’s Bedside (cat. no. 85) and Delacroix’s Hamlet and
the Queen (Fig. 8) reveals their differing styles of illustration. In both the viewer is
brought close to the figures but in Brown's finished drawings there is no recession of
space and the figures are squeezed against the picture plane. This adds to the intensity
and drama of the series as the viewer is forced right into the action without having the
comfort of a visual buffer zone. Brown also uses minimal pen lines in comparison to
Delacroix, giving his work a feeling of linearity. There is no shading, not even cross-
hatching, and he is content to allow the colour of the paper to be seen. Delacroix uses
shading to add depth to his figures and he lavishes attention on the costume.
Although there is little background the shading and three dimensionality of the bed
and chairs give the viewer a feeling of recession behind the figures, unlike Brown’s
drawing where the musicians are crammed in and almost touching the front of the
picture plane. In part, these differences may be put down to the different media used
by the artists but the minimal linear style Brown chooses is striking in comparison to
Delacroix’s more sensual shading.
Stylistically Brown's drawings are closer to the outline illustrations produced by John
Flaxman (1755-1826) and Friedrich August Moritz Retzsch (1779-1857). He may
have been inspired to produce this set of drawings by the Art Union of London outline
35 Virginia Surtees, ed., The Diary of Ford Madox Brown, London and New Haven, p. 40. According
to his diary Macready does not appear to have performed King Lear during his visit to Paris which
lasted from 4 December 1844 to the last week in January 1845 (see op. cit. at note 34, pp. 219-222).
As Borowitz points out Brown may have seen Macready's version on one of several trips to England he
made before settling there permanently in 1846 (Op. cit. at note 21, p. 319).
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