Beginning in 1834, Delacroix made a series of lithographs which was published in 1843 and 1864, based on Shakespeare's epic tragedy "Hamlet." A lithograph that appeared in the first edition depicts the same scene—the Murder of Polonius (Act III, Scene IV)—and is identical in composition to the present painting.

Inscription: Signed (lower left): Eug. Delacroix.

[Bouquet, Paris, from 1849; bought from the artist for Fr 100]; Narcisse-Virgile Diaz de la Peña, Paris (until d. 1876; his estate sale, Hôtel Drouot, Paris, January 25, 1877, no. 325, as "Hamlet," for Fr 2,700 to Brame); [Galerie Brame, Paris, from 1877]; M. Perreau (until 1881; sold on October 24, for Fr 2,500, to Boussod, Valadon); [Boussod, Valadon & Cie, Paris, 1881; stock no. 15682; sold on October 24, for Fr 3,000, to Avery]; Samuel P. Avery, New York (from 1881; sold to Smith); Charles Stewart Smith, New York (until d. about 1910); his heirs (about 1910–19; sale, American Art Association, New York, April 25, 1919, no. 92, as "Death of Polonius," for $575 to Riefstahl); R. M. Riefstahl (from 1919); Adelaide Milton de Groot, New York (by 1936–d. 1967; on loan to MMA, 1936–39 and 1956–57; on loan to Springfield Museum of Fine Arts, Springfield, Mass., 1939–56)

Marseilles. Musée Cantini. "De la Scène au Tableau," October 6, 2009–January 3, 2010, no. 91.

Museo di Arte Moderna e Contemporanea di Trento e Rovereto. "Dalla scena al dipinto: La magia del teatro nella pittura dell'Ottocento Da David a Delacroix, da Füssli a Degas," February 6–May 23, 2010, no. 91.

Toronto. Art Gallery of Ontario. "Drama and Desire: Art and Theatre from the French Revolution to the First World War," June 19–September 26, 2010, no. 91.

Eugène Delacroix. Journal entry. March 13, 1849 [published in Ref. Joubin 1932, vol. 1, p. 277], calls it "Hamlet et la scène du rat" and notes that he sold it to the dealer Bouquet for Fr 100, possibly this picture.

Eugène Delacroix. Letter to Monsieur Beugniet. February 8, 1849 [published in Ref. Joubin 1936, p. 374], notes that he sold a picture of Hamlet for Fr 100 to Beugniet, possibly this picture.

Eugène Delacroix. Journal entry. February 4, 1849 [published in Ref. Joubin 1932, vol. 1, p. 257], records that he finished this work.

Théophile Silvestre. Delacroix. Paris, 1855, p. 81, as "Hamlet tuant Polonius".

Alfred Robaut. L'œuvre complet de Eugène Delacroix. Paris, 1885, p. 205, no. 766, as "Hamlet tuant Polonius"; claims that it was sold to Perreau for Fr 2,700 in the Diaz sale of 1877.

Loys Delteil. "Ingres & Delacroix." Le peintre-graveur illustré (XIX et XX siècles). 3, Paris, 1908, unpaginated, under no. 111, mentions that this work was included in the Diaz sale of 1877.

André Joubin. Journal de Eugène Delacroix. Paris, 1932, vol. 1, p. 277 n. 1, identifies this work as a picture referred to by Delacroix in his journal entry for March 13, 1849 as "Hamlet et la scène du rat," and listed as having been sold to the dealer Bouquet for Fr 100.

André Joubin. Correspondance générale d'Eugène Delacroix. 2, Paris, 1936, p. 374 n. 1, identifies a work mentioned by Delacroix in a letter of February 8, 1849 as having been sold to M. Beugniet for Fr 100 as either this picture or Robaut no. 765, "Hamlet hésitant à tuer le roi".

Luigina Rossi Bortolatto. L'opera pittorica completa di Delacroix. Milan, 1972, pp. 108–9, no. 376, ill. (lithograph), does not give an owner, but lists it as Robaut no. 766; dates it 1843.

Lee Johnson. The Paintings of Eugène Delacroix: A Critical Catalogue. 3, Oxford, 1986, pp. 119, 346, 354, no. 293, as "Hamlet about to Kill Polonius;" states that it is this picture, and not R943 (J319), that Delacroix records as finishing in his journal entry for February 4, 1849 [see Ref. Joubin 1932, p. 257 n. 2].

Lee Johnson. The Paintings of Eugène Delacroix: A Critical Catalogue. 4, Oxford, 1986, pl. 112.

Katharine Lochnan in Drama and Desire: Art and Theatre from the French Revolution to the First World War. Exh. cat., Musée Cantini, Marseilles. Milan, 2010, p. 184, no. 91, ill. p. 191 (color), dates it about 1830.

The subject is taken from Act III, Scene IV of Hamlet, in the Queen's closet, where Hamlet kills Polonius: "Hamlet [Drawing] How now! a rat? Dead for a ducat, dead! [makes a pass through the arras]."

Delacroix made a series of lithographs on the theme of Hamlet, begun in 1834 and published in 1843. A second edition, with three additional subjects, appeared in 1864. The lithograph of the "Murder of Polonius" (Robaut no. 586 and Delteil vol. 3, no 111) appeared in the first edition and is identical to this painting in composition. The MMA has the second state of this lithograph, with the inscription "Qu'est-ce donc? . . . Un rat!" (22.56.12). A sepia drawing of the same composition was sold in Delacroix's posthumous sale as no. 401 (Robaut no. 587).

This picture was sent to the Art Museum of South Texas at Corpus Christi for an exhibition titled "Romantic Art at the Time of Beethoven," held from March 15 to April 28, 1970; however, the painting was returned to New York before the opening of the exhibition. No catalogue of the exhibition is available, and it is not known if the picture is included in it.