Nick Bottom mit Eselskopf, gehend c. 1867 - 1868

This pencil drawing of Nick Bottom with a donkey's head was created by Paul Konewka sometime in the 19th century. The image depicts a character from Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” a play that enjoyed immense popularity in Europe at this time. Konewka was German, and his work often tapped into the rich vein of folklore and popular culture that characterized 19th-century German Romanticism. Artists during this period were interested in the power of stories to communicate moral and cultural values, and this drawing would have resonated with audiences familiar with Shakespeare and with the broader tradition of anthropomorphic tales. By the time of the industrial revolution in Europe, there was a renewed sense of national identity through folklore. To better understand this drawing, we might research the role of Shakespeare in 19th-century German culture and further explore how folk traditions were used to express social and political ideas.