Art of Scaling
Medium
Etching and aquatint
Dimensions
Sheet: 9 7/16 × 11 5/8 in. (24 × 29.6 cm)
Classification
Prints
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
The Elisha Whittelsey Collection, The Elisha Whittelsey Fund, 1959
Accession Number
59.533.237
Tags
Art Historical Context
In the lively world of 18th-century British satire, *Art of Scaling* (ca. 1785), a collaborative etching and aquatint by Thomas Rowlandson and Samuel Alken, captures the cheeky escapades of amorous adventurers. Rowlandson, renowned for his caricatured vignettes poking fun at social follies, teams up with Alken, a specialist in sporting and humorous scenes, to depict men comically scaling balconies in pursuit of women—a nod to the romantic (and risky) tropes of courtship and elopement. Printed on a modest sheet of 9 7/16 × 11 5/8 inches, this work buzzes with exaggerated expressions and dynamic...
About the Artist
Thomas Rowlandson|Samuel Alken|Samuel Alken · 1756–1827
Thomas Rowlandson (1757–1827) was an English artist and caricaturist whose satirical watercolors and prints captured the social life of Georgian Britain with unparalleled wit and technical mastery. Alongside James Gillray, he is recognized as one of the greatest British graphic artists, and his distinctive flowing line and keen observations have made his work integral to understanding late 18th an...