Cajus demonstreert Rugby hoe hij Hugh heeft verslagen

About this artwork

Vervaardigd voor William Shakespeares 'The Merry Wives of Windsor'. Latere staat gebruikt voor: Goettinger Taschen Calender vom Jahr 1787. Göttingen: Johann Christoph Dietrich, 1786.

Art Historical Context

Daniel Nikolaus Chodowie's etching *Cajus demonstre Rugby hoe hij Hugh heeftlagen* (1786) captures a lively comedic moment William Shakespeare's *The Merry of Windsor*. The title, translating from Dutch as "Caius Demonstrates to Rugby How Heeated Hugh," depicts theous French doctor Caiusfully reenacting his supposed victory over the Welsh parson Sir Hugh Evans for his servant Rugby. This scene highlights the play's farce, blending cultural clashes and mistaken identities in the whimsical town of Windsor, a favorite for 18th-century illustrators. Created as an illustration for Shakespeare's co...

About the Artist

Daniel Nikolaus Chodowiecki · 1726–1801

Daniel Nikolaus Chodowiecki (1726–1801) was a German painter and printmaker of Polish-Huguenot descent who became the most celebrated graphic artist in 18th-century Germany. Born in Danzig (now Gdańsk), he created approximately 2,000 etchings that serve as an invaluable visual record of German bourgeois life during the Enlightenment. Largely self-taught, Chodowiecki moved to Berlin in 1743 and ach...