Drawing

Painted illustration created for publication in an illustrated newspaper or magazine, probably The Illustrated London News. It shows the italian singer Signor Francesco Tamagno (1850-1905) in the title role, with Signor Antonio Scotti (1866-1936) as Iago, in a production of Verdi's opera, Otello, at Covent Garden in 1901. The image has been signed by the artist, Allan Stewart (1865-1951), in the bottom right hand corner.

Otello is an opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi (1813-1901) to an Italian libretto by Arrigo Boito, based on William Shakespeare's (1564-1616) play Othello. It was Verdi's penultimate opera, and was first performed at the Teatro alla Scala, Milan, on February the 5th 1887 with the tenor Francesco Tomagno (1850-1905) in the role of Otello.