Left Protect
September 1, 1798
Medium
Hand-colored etching and aquatint
Dimensions
Sheet:: 13 7/8 × 11 3/4 in. (35.3 × 29.9 cm) Plate: 13 1/16 × 10 7/8 in. (33.1 × 27.7 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
59.533.763(6)
Rights
Public Domain
Tags
Art Historical Context
Created in 1798 by the celebrated caricaturist Thomas Rowlandson in collaboration with fencing master Henry Angelo, *Left Protect* captures a dynamic moment of military instruction. The hand-colored etching and aquatint depicts soldiers on horseback, flags waving, as they demonstrate a precise defensive fencing maneuver. Rowlandson’s lively line work and subtle coloring bring energy to the scene, transforming a technical lesson into an engaging visual narrative. At the close of the eighteenth century, Britain was deeply engaged in military preparedness amid the French Revolutionary Wars. Prints like this one served both practical and popular purposes, illustrating fencing positions from Angelo’s manuals while appealing to a broader audience through Rowlandson’s witty, accessible style. The combination of etching for fine detail and aquatint for tonal effects allowed the image to be reproduced affordably and then delicately hand-colored, making such instructional art widely available. Today, this work offers a charming glimpse into Georgian-era attitudes toward martial skill and physical discipline, preserved in the Metropolitan Museum’s collection of prints and drawings.
About the Artist
Henry Angelo|Thomas Rowlandson (British|British) · 1756 |1757 –1835 |1827
British, London 1756–1835 London|British, London 1757–1827 London