The Modern Hercules, Cleansing the Augean Stable
Medium
Hand-colored etching
Dimensions
Sheet: 9 7/16 × 13 9/16 in. (24 × 34.5 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
59.533.919
Tags
Art Historical Context
Step into the witty world of early 19th-century British satire with *The Modern Hercules, Cleansing the Augean Stable*, a hand-colored etching created by renowned caricaturist Thomas Rowlandson on April 23, 1805. This lively print draws from Greek mythology, where Hercules performed the Herculean task of cleaning the filth-choked Augean stables in a single day. Here, Rowlandson casts political heavyweights William Pitt and Henry Dundas, 1st Viscount Melville, as the "modern" heroes tackling a monumental mess—likely a barbed commentary on government corruption or administrative chaos during Pit...
About the Artist
Thomas Rowlandson|William Pitt|Henry Dundas, 1st Viscount Melville · 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...