Sketches for Samuel Rogers' Poetry
n.d.
Medium
Pen and brown and black ink on cream laid paper, laid down on blue wove paper
Dimensions
11.2 × 14.5 cm (4 7/16 × 5 3/4 in.)
Classification
pen and ink drawings
Department
Prints and Drawings
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
83410
Art Historical Context
Thomas Stothard (1755–1834), a prolific British artist celebrated for his delicate illustrations and history paintings, created these *Sketches for Samuel Rogers' Poetry* as preparatory designs, likely for engraved vignettes in the poet's popular volumes like *Pleasures of Memory* or *Italy*. Working in the late 18th and early 19 centuries during the Romantic era, Stoth bridged literature and visual art, poetic themes of nostalgia, landscapes, and human emotion with his characteristic grace. Samuel Rogers, a leading literary figure and patron of the arts, commissioned such works to enhance his...
About the Artist
Thomas Stothard · 1755–1834
Thomas Stothard RA (1755–1834) was born on 17 August 1755 at the Black Horse Inn in London's Long Acre, the son of a prosperous publican originally from Stutton near Tadcaster. A delicate child, he was sent at age five to relatives in Yorkshire, attending schools in Acomb, Tadcaster, and later Ilford, Essex, where he honed his drawing skills by copying prints. Following his father's death in 1770,...