# The Merry Wives of Windsor: Dr. Caius, Simple and Dame Quickly

- By: Robert Walter Weir (born New York City 1803-died New York City 1889)
- Date: 1830
- Medium: oil on canvas
- Classification: Paintings
- Dimensions: 20 7/8 x 17 1/2 in. (53.1 x 44.5 cm.)
- Credit line: Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum Purchase
- Museum: [Smithsonian Institution](https://americanart.si.edu/collections/search/artwork/?id=32278)
- Rights: [CC0 (Smithsonian Open Access)](https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/)
- Picture: https://invisiblenetwork.ai/thumbs/web/b2ec3d1d0fc739090b17d227cfea3992.jpg
- Who can see it: Teens profiles and older (museums give no ratings; placed by Invisible Network from the museum's own words)

American artists, actors, and writers during the nineteenth century were still heavily influenced by English literature, and Shakespeare’s plays enjoyed many revivals. In this painting, Robert W. Weir illustrated a moment in The Merry Wives of Windsor when a character finds his rival’s servant in his closet. Weir gave the two men comical expressions of horror to emphasize the slapstick nature of the scene.