The Actress' Prayer!!
August 10, 1801
Medium
Hand-colored etching
Dimensions
Sheet: 17 7/16 × 11 3/4 in. (44.3 × 29.8 cm) Plate: 8 × 9 13/16 in. (20.3 × 25 cm)
Classification
Prints
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Harris Brisbane Dick Fund, 1917
Accession Number
17.3.888-21
Tags
Art Historical Context
**The Actress' Prayer!!** (1801) is a lively hand-colored etching created through a collaboration between caricaturist Thomas Rowlandson, designer George Murgatroyd, and engraver Edwardagg. Produced on August 10, 1801, this print exemplifies the satirical humor of Regency-era Britain, where theater was a cultural obsession. Rowlandson, renowned for his exaggerated, witty caricatures, often lampooned social vices, and here he turns his eye to the world of actresses—women whose profiles, as hinted by the tags, symbolized both glamour and scandal. The medium of hand-colored etching was ideal for...
About the Artist
Edward Spragg|Thomas Rowlandson|George Murgatroyd Woodward (British|British) · 1794 |1757 –1850 |1827
British, active London, 1794–1850|British, London 1757–1827 London