diff --git a/src/layers/basic.jl b/src/layers/basic.jl
index 2a46520818..28f7592d61 100644
--- a/src/layers/basic.jl
+++ b/src/layers/basic.jl
@@ -60,50 +60,93 @@ end
 
 extraChain(::Tuple{}, x) = ()
 
-
+using Base: depwarn
 
 """
-    Dense(in::Integer, out::Integer, σ = identity)
+    Dense(in => out, σ) = Dense(in, out, σ)
+    Dense(W::AbstractMatrix, b, σ)
 
-Creates a traditional `Dense` layer with parameters `W` and `b`.
+Creates a traditional `Dense` layer with parameters `W` and `b`,
+and by default `σ = identity`. This maps `x` to
 
     y = σ.(W * x .+ b)
 
 The input `x` must be a vector of length `in`, or a batch of vectors represented
 as an `in × N` matrix. The out `y` will be a vector or batch of length `out`.
 
+If `in` or `out` is a tuple of dimensions, then reshaping is inserted to allow input
+with `size(x) == (in..., batch...)`, and produce output `size(y) == (out..., batch...)`.
+
+Keyword `init = glorot_uniform` is the default function which generates `W` and `b`,
+and giving `bias = false` will omit the parameter `b`.
+
 ```julia
 julia> d = Dense(5, 2)
-Dense(5, 2)
+Dense(5 => 2)
 
-julia> d(rand(5))
-Tracked 2-element Array{Float64,1}:
+julia> d(rand(Float32, 5))
+2-element Array{Float32,1}:
   0.00257447
   -0.00449443
+
+julia> d2 = Dense(5 => (2,2), tanh)
+Dense(5 => (2, 2), tanh)
+
+julia> size(d2(ones(5, 3, 7)))
+(2, 2, 3, 7)
 ```
 """
-struct Dense{F,S,T}
+struct Dense{F,S,T,D}
   W::S
   b::T
   σ::F
+  shapes::D
 end
 
-Dense(W, b) = Dense(W, b, identity)
+Dense(W::AbstractMatrix, b, σ = identity) = Dense(W, b, σ, reverse(size(W)))
+
+Dense(p::Pair, σ = identity; kw...) = Dense(p.first, p.second, σ; kw...)
+
+function Dense(in::Union{Integer,Tuple}, out::Union{Integer,Tuple}, σ = identity;
+               init = glorot_uniform, bias = true,
+               initW = nothing, initb = nothing)
+
+  # depwarn as in https://github.com/FluxML/Flux.jl/pull/722
+  if initb === nothing
+    initb = init
+  else
+    depwarn("keyword argument `initb` is deprecated; use `init` or explicit `Dense(W,b)` to initialise", :Dense)
+  end
+
+  # optional bias as in https://github.com/FluxML/Flux.jl/issues/868
+  b = (bias === true) ? initb(prod(out)) : bias
+
+  if initW === nothing
+    W = init(prod(out), prod(in))
+  else
+    depwarn("keyword argument `initW` is deprecated; use `init` or explicit `Dense(W,b)` to initialise", :Dense)
+    W = initW(prod(out), prod(in))
+  end
 
-function Dense(in::Integer, out::Integer, σ = identity;
-               initW = glorot_uniform, initb = zeros)
-  return Dense(initW(out, in), initb(out), σ)
+  return Dense(W, b, σ, (in, out))
 end
 
-@functor Dense
+@functor Dense (W,b,σ)
 
 function (a::Dense)(x::AbstractArray)
   W, b, σ = a.W, a.b, a.σ
-  σ.(W*x .+ b)
+  if a.shapes isa Tuple{Integer, Integer} && x isa AbstractVecOrMat
+    return σ.(W*x .+ b)
+  else
+    in, out = a.shapes
+    xin = reshape(x, prod(ntuple(d -> size(x,d), length(in))), :)
+    y = σ.(W*xin .+ b)
+    return reshape(y, out..., ntuple(d -> size(x,length(in)+d), ndims(x)-length(in))...)
+  end
 end
 
 function Base.show(io::IO, l::Dense)
-  print(io, "Dense(", size(l.W, 2), ", ", size(l.W, 1))
+  print(io, "Dense(", l.shapes[1], " => ", l.shapes[2])
   l.σ == identity || print(io, ", ", l.σ)
   print(io, ")")
 end
diff --git a/test/layers/basic.jl b/test/layers/basic.jl
index 0ff1776db8..da03304a17 100644
--- a/test/layers/basic.jl
+++ b/test/layers/basic.jl
@@ -38,6 +38,14 @@ import Flux: activations
     @test Dense(10, 2, identity, initW = ones, initb = zeros)(ones(10,1)) == 10*ones(2, 1)
     @test Dense(10, 2, identity, initW = ones, initb = zeros)([ones(10,1) 2*ones(10,1)]) == [10 20; 10 20]
 
+    @test size(Dense(10 => 5)(randn(10))) == (5,)
+    @test size(Dense(10 => (5,))(randn(10))) == (5,)
+    @test size(Dense(10 => (5,))(randn(10,7))) == (5,7)
+    @test size(Dense(10 => (5,3))(randn(10,7))) == (5,3,7)
+    @test size(Dense((10,7) => 5)(randn(10,7))) == (5,)
+
+    @test Dense(10, (2,2), identity, initW=ones, initb=ones)(ones(10,3)) == 11 .* ones(2,2,3)
+    @test Dense((3,3) => (2,2), sqrt, initW=ones, initb=zeros)(ones(3,3,5)) == 3 .* ones(2,2,5)
   end
 
   @testset "Diagonal" begin