"O Spartan dog": plate 15 from Othello (Act 5, Scene 2)

Art Historical Context

This striking print captures the tragic climax of Shakespeare’s *Othello*, specifically Act 5, Scene 2. Théodore Chassériau’s 1844 illustration depicts the moment of Desdemona’s death, with the title quoting Othello’s bitter reference to the treacherous Iago as a “Spartan dog.” Created during the height of the Romantic era, the work reflects the 19th-century fascination with Shakespeare across Europe, as artists sought to translate the emotional intensity of his plays into visual form. Chassériau, a French artist trained under Ingres yet drawn to the dramatic energy of Delacroix, employed an intricate combination of etching, engraving, aquatint, and drypoint on chine collé. This layered printmaking technique allowed him to achieve rich tonal contrasts and delicate textures, heightening the scene’s atmosphere of tension and sorrow. The resulting image conveys both the intimacy of the bedchamber and the violence of the act, inviting viewers to contemplate themes of jealousy, betrayal, and irreversible loss. Housed in the Metropolitan Museum’s Department of Drawings and Prints, this plate belongs to a celebrated series that helped establish Chassériau’s reputation as one of the foremost interpreters of Shakespeare in French art.

About the Artist

Théodore Chassériau|William Shakespeare · 1819–1856

Théodore Chassériau was born on September 20, 1819, in El Limón, Samaná, in the Spanish colony of Santo Domingo — present-day Dominican Republic — to a French father and a Creole mother. The family relocated to Paris in 1820, and the young Chassériau's exceptional talent was evident almost immediately. At just eleven years old, in 1830, he was accepted into the prestigious studio of Jean-Auguste-D...