Hamlet and Horatio at the Cemetery

Hamlet and Horatio at the Cemetery from 1835 at the Stadel Museum depicts the graveyard scene from Shakespeare's play. Delacroix was obsessed with Hamlet, producing numerous paintings and lithographs of the melancholy prince. Delacroix's method combined rapid, gestural underpainting with careful final glazing, creating surfaces of extraordinary richness and warmth; his studio practice was meticulous despite the apparent spontaneity of the results.

The composition places the two figures amid the graves with dramatic atmosphere. Delacroix's palette of dark tones and dramatic lighting creates the contemplative mood of Shakespeare's scene.