Watercolor, approximately 9 x 15 inches. The Royal National Theatre and the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre Trust.

David Garrick was the undisputed master of Shakespeare in the eighteenth century, and William Charles Macready (1793-1873) certainly rivalled his fellow-actors for the same title in the nineteenth. He made his debut as Romeo in 1810 and moved to Covent Garden in 1816. His performance as Richard III in 1819 was roundly applauded and he went on to a distinguished career both in London and Paris. He retired from the stage in 1851.

De Wilde's watercolor, dated March 1820, records Macready's performance as Richard and gives us an accurate picture of costuming in the early nineteenth century.