William Painter
born c. 1540
died February 1594, London, Eng.
English author whose collection of tales The
Palace of Pleasure, based on classical and
Italian originals, served as a sourcebook for
many Elizabethan dramatists.
Educated at St. John’s College, Cambridge,
Painter was ordained in 1560. In 1561 he became
a clerk of the ordnance in the Tower of London,
a position in which he appears to have amassed a
fortune out of public funds. In 1591 his son
Anthony confessed that he and his father had
abused their trust, but Painter retained his
office until his death.
The first volume of The Palace of Pleasure,
which appeared in 1566, contained 60 tales. It
was followed in the next year by a volume
including 34 new stories. An improved edition
(1575) contained seven more new stories. To its
popularity, and that of similar collections, is
due the high proportion of Elizabethan plays
with Italian settings.
Appius and Virginia, a Tragedy and Robert
Wilmot’s The Tragedy of Tancred and Gismund were
taken from Painter’s book, and it was also the
source for William Shakespeare’s Timon of Athens
and All’s Well That Ends Well (and probably for
details in Romeo and Juliet and The Rape of
Lucrece), for Philip Massinger’s The Maid of
Honour and The Picture, and for James Shirley’s
Loves Crueltie.
