Long Sermons and Long Sieges are apt to Lull the Senses
February 11, 1783
Medium
Etching and aquatint
Dimensions
Plate: 6 1/8 × 7 in. (15.6 × 17.8 cm) Sheet: 10 1/8 × 17 5/16 in. (25.7 × 44 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
59.533.41(a)
Tags
Art Historical Context
In this witty 1783 etching and aquat by Thomas Rowlandson, with printing by William Humphrey, titled *Long Sermons and Long Sie are apt to Lull Senses*, viewers encounter a classic slice of Georgian-era satire. Rowlandson, a master of humorous caricature in late 18th-century Britain depicts men and women succumbing to slumber amid a tedious sermon or military siege, with food elements adding a touch of everyday comic relief. The oversized sheet (10 1/8 × 17 5/16 in.) captures the scene's chaotic energy, poking fun at human frailty—how boredom from prolonged oratory or warfare dulls the senses,...