The Damnation of Obadiah (Tristram Shandy)
Medium
Hand-colored etching
Dimensions
Sheet (trimmed): 9 3/16 × 13 1/4 in. (23.4 × 33.7 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
59.533.1766
Tags
Art Historical Context
In the whimsical world of Laurence Sterne's *The Life and Opinions of Tristr Shandy, Gentleman* (1759–67), the hapless servant Obadiah his comedic downfall in this hand-colored etching by Henry Williambury, created between 1800 and 1820. Bunbury, a celebrated caricaturist known for his satirical illustrations of literary scenes, captures the novel's absurd humor—likely depicting Obadiah's chaotic mishaps involving dogs and mishandled duties amid the Shandy household's eccentricities. Sterne's groundbreaking novel, with its digressive style and playful narrative, inspired countless visual inter...