Your Castle Is Surprised by Richard Lyons

Macbeth, Act 4, scene iii

Richard Lyons

Your Castle Is Surprised

Acrylic On Canvas

70 x 50 cm

€922

Available

Location: Szereda

The scene from Shakespeare which always brings tears to my eyes is Macbeth, Act 4, scene iii. The scene opens with Macduff and Duncan discussing the dire state of their country, Scotland. The political conversation is interrupted by the arrival of a messenger, Ross, who at first cannot bear to break the news he brings. Eventually he is pushed to open up, and says
" ... I have words
That would be howl'd out in the desert air,
Where hearing should not latch them."

The news he brings is that all of Macduff's family have been savagely slaughtered in a manner too terrible to relate. In my painting the castle walls carry fragments of the conversation that follows as Macduff struggles to accept the terrible truth. I use extreme vertical perspective to heighten the tragedy, while birds continue their lives unconcerned.