Browse Items (196 total)

Portrait of Ira Aldridge in the role of Othello. Standing in front of a curtain, he holds a cutlass in his right hand and points with his left hand. Behind his right side, sits a male figure.

Reconstruction of the interior of a playhouse (probably Drury Lane, circa 1674) and exterior streets, represented from an overhead cut-away view. Parts of building labeled.

John Dryden, dramatist and newly appointed poet laureate. The decorative border includes quotes from Roman poets, laurel branches, and the motto "Par omnibus Vnus" (one to equal them all). See a fuller description from the Historical Portraits Image…

This full-length portrait of Dryden emphasizes his sources in the volumes ( Montaigne, Horace, Virgil, Homer) on the table at his left hand. A dog looks up at Dryden from the foreground; an eagle is depicted on the ledge. A distant view of Parnassus…

Engraved half-length portrait of John Gay. Below is an inscription: "M. John Gay, Author of the Beggar's Opera/ His Epitaph wrote by himself./ Life is a Jest, & all things show it,/ I thought so once, but now I know it./ To Alexander Pope Esq:…

William Powell as Oroonoko recoiling backwards with both arms extended and hands outstretched. His left leg is bent while his right is extended forward. Aboan slouches to the left of him, beside a group of trees. Behind the figures is a small town.

Rochester stands with manuscript in left hand, while his right bestows laurels on a monkey, who is handing him torn pages of a book.

half-length standing portrait, part of Kneller's Kit-Cat Club portraits. For more information, see NPG