David Garrick as Richard III is a painting dating from 1745 by the English artist William Hogarth.

The painting is usually said to show the actor and stage manager David Garrick in the role of Richard III in Shakespeare’s play.

In fact it records his performance in the radically adapted version of Colley Cibber, whose Richard III held the stage from 1700 until 1896.

The king, who had been asleep in his tent on the battlefield, has just woken from a dream in which he has seen the ghosts of the opponents he had previously murdered.

[2] Hogarth was a friend of Garrick, who had gained a degree of fame through his portrayal of Richard III at the Drury Lane Theatre in London.