School for Modern Romans
In this eighth print of a group of eight, a young man who is deeply has shot himself. We see him discovered by a hairdressers and tailor, accompanied by men carrying bills and notes of debt. Suicide was then illegal in Britain but, as the title indicates, associated with ancient Romans who pursued it as a virtuous option when life became unbearable. The young man here is, of course, not virtuous but has chosen suicide to escape disgrace and debtor's prison. Rowlandson etched this set after drawings by Willyams, a university-educated lieutenant-colonel from Cornwall who also supplied supporting satirical text under the pseudonym Joel McCringer. Rowlandson's characteristic elegance does not disguise the dark human impulses being satirized. Modern education, it is suggested, does little to teach self-control, wisdom or empathy.
Artwork Details
- Title: School for Modern Romans
- Series/Portfolio: A Compendious Treatise on Modern Education: Title and 8 plates
- Etcher: Thomas Rowlandson (British, London 1757–1827 London)
- Artist: After James Brydges Willyams (British, Cornwall 1772–1820 Truro, Cornwall)
- Publisher: Thomas Rowlandson (British, London 1757–1827 London)
- Date: May 10, 1802
- Medium: Hand-colored etching
- Dimensions: Sheet: 10 1/8 × 12 3/4 in. (25.7 × 32.4 cm)
Plate: 9 11/16 × 10 11/16 in. (24.6 × 27.2 cm) - Classification: Prints
- Credit Line: The Elisha Whittelsey Collection, The Elisha Whittelsey Fund, 1959
- Object Number: 59.533.851(9)
- Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints
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Thomas Rowlandson
1780–1827
Thomas Rowlandson
1780–1827
Thomas Rowlandson
1780–1827
Multiple artists/makers
January 1794
Thomas Rowlandson
late 18th–early 19th century
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