Hostess Discharges a Pan of Blood into the Face of Parson Andrews, from "The Adventures of Joseph Andrews, and his friend Mr. Abraham Adams"
Medium
Etching
Dimensions
Sheet (trimmed): 4 3/8 × 6 1/4 in. (11.1 × 15.8 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
59.533.561(3)
Tags
Art Historical Context
This 1792 etching captures a lively, comedic moment from Henry Fielding’s 1742 novel *The Adventures of Joseph Andrews*. In the scene, a kitchen hostess hurls a pan of blood toward Parson Adams, creating the kind of chaotic, farcical mishap that made Fielding’s picaresque tale popular with eighteenth-century readers. The small print, measuring just over four by six inches, was designed to accompany the text, allowing audiences to visualize the novel’s humorous episodes of mistaken identity and social satire. Thomas Rowlandson, working with publisher James Sibbald, employed the etching techniq...
About the Artist
Henry Fielding|James Sibbald|Thomas Rowlandson (British|British) · 1707 |1757 –1754 |1827
British, 1707–1754|British, London 1757–1827 London