David Garrick Between Tragedy and Comedy is a 1761 painting by the English painter Joshua Reynolds, depicting the actor and playwright David Garrick caught between the Muses of Tragedy and Comedy. It is regarded as one of Reynolds's most studied and well-known paintings, and is now in the collection of Waddesdon Manor, Buckinghamshire. Description The art historian Horace Walpole provided the earliest known description of David Garrick Between Tragedy and Comedy. Walpole also recorded that George Montagu-Dunk, 2nd Earl of Halifax, bought the painting for £300, though it is unclear if this ever actually occurred. David Garrick stands in the centre of the painting wearing an Anthony van Dyck costume, against a rural landscape with a field and woodland. He stands between the Muse of Comedy, known as Thalia, and the Muse of Tragedy, known as Melpomene. He appears conflicted and hesitates between them, starting to transform from a tragic playwright into a comedian. Tragedy grabs Garrick's wrist with one hand and raises her other hand. Comedy is framed by a field and sky as she pulls on Garrick's arm. The painting has motifs similar to 18th-century theatrical frontispieces depicting the Muses of Tragedy and Comedy: the Muse of Tragedy has a dagger and raises one arm, and the Muse of Comedy holds a mask in her left hand. The differences between the two Muses are both formal and iconographic. Comedy is painted in the rococo style, reminiscent of the work of Antonio da Correggio. Tragedy is drawn in the neoclassical style, after the style of Guido Reni. The painting employs elements of Augustan imagery, with its clothing, light, and shadow. Comedy has slightly tousled fair hair, resembling the bacchante drawn by Peter Paul Rubens. She wears washed-out mauve clothing. Tragedy wears a strong blue dress, with her head and arms covered as if in mourning. Comedy smiles at the viewer, while Tragedy looks sternly at Garrick. Comedy is in dappled light, while Tragedy is strongly lit from above, with a dark background. The side of Garrick's face towards Comedy is smiling and illuminated, while other side is in shadows as he looks worriedly at Tragedy. Art historians often compare the painting to a scene in Greek mythology in which the god Hercules has to choose between Virtue and Pleasure. Reynolds' painting parodied this scene in that, whereas Hercules ultimately chooses the more modestly dressed Virtue, Garrick starts to succumb