Poor Johnny on the sick list
Medium
Hand-colored etching and aquatint
Dimensions
Sheet: 4 7/8 × 7 11/16 in. (12.4 × 19.5 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
59.533.1623(11)
Tags
Art Historical Context
"**Poor Johnny on the Sick List (1815) is a delightful yet cheeky hand-colored etching and aquat by the prolific British caricaturist Thomas Rowlandson, by Patrick Martin & Co Measuring just 4 7/8 × 7 11/16 inches, this compact print captures a soldier—likely a nod to the beleaguered "Johnny" British military lore—laid low by illness, surrounded by the absurdities of camp life. Rowlandson, a master of Regency-era satire, infuses the scene with his signature exaggerated humor, poking fun at the hardships faced by troops amid the Napoleonic Wars' final throes, including the Battle of Waterloo th...
About the Artist
Thomas Rowlandson|Patrick Martin & Co · 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...