This painting of Ellen Terry and Henry Irving as Beatrice and Benedict in Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing in 1882 is from The Library of Congress and enchanting in its own right.
The background is a blend of the interior of The Great Exhibition at Crystal Palace in 1851 from an old encyclopaedia — the venue was originally constructed in Hyde Park and the exhibition was organised by Prince Albert and Henry Cole — and textures from 2 Lil’ Owls.
As soon as I layered the actors over the blended background, it conjured up the likes of William Morris and Dante Gabriel Rossetti!
Benedick
That I neither feel how she should be loved
nor know how she should be worthy is the opinion
that fire cannot melt out of me. I will die in it at the
stake.
Available at the following galleries:
Redbubble
Crated
Zazzle US
Zazzle UK
Fine Art America
Fine Art England
Saatchi Art
Take care and keep laughing!
First Night Design 
I like the contrast of the warm colors with the very mystical looking quality of the rest of it. Hugs!
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Much thanks, Teagan!
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It works beautifully. It must have a been a performance to remember…:)
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I’m glad you think so, Olga. Thank you!
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Reblogged this on jelmak1234.
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Oh my Sarah what a great image. The layers work so incredibly well as I work my way through them – the colors and values are perfect as they give a nice level of depth. There is a lot to admire in this elegant piece of work. Love it ~
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You are a delight, Mary. Huge thanks for such an incredible compliment.
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I love how ghostly and other-worldly this looks. Like a previous commenter said, usually ghostly images are not used with such inviting colours.
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Bless you!
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I love this image…:)x
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You’ve made my day, Janet! Happy Weekend!
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These are the colors I long for all day long until the sun is minutes away from setting. They saturate my walls with golden hues and warm honeyed tones. I would be so content surrounded by this beautiful piece of work, Sarah. And how fortunate it would have been to see this performance.
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Such a beautiful description of the colours, Shelley. They are, too, colours I adore; when the image came together, my heart soared.
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