In the latter half of the nineteenth century, but especially from the late seventies onwards, several internationally renowned actors or companies presented their Shakespeare productions in the main cities of Flanders. Undoubtedly, they provided an important impetus to the creation of a Shakespeare tradition in Flemish cultural life. In the present article I wish to draw attention to the successful performances which the greatest Italian interpreters of Shakespeare, Ernesto Rossi and Tommaso Salvini, gave in Flanders and which hitherto have been left unnoticed.