Dropsy Courting Consumption

Dublin Core

Title

Dropsy Courting Consumption

Subject

Social satire, Medicine in art

Description

During the 18th and 19th centuries certain illnesses became markers of affluence and refinement. Consumption (tuberculosis), was associated with delicate femininity or Romantic sensibility. This print portrays a courting couple, destined for the mausoleum rather than the altar. The anorexic woman represents fashion-foolishness with her flamboyant accessories, including a dainty but impractical fan and extravagant hat. By contrast her suitor is rotund and swollen from dropsy (kidney disease), which like gout was associated with gluttony and intemperance. In the background a second couple with reverse dispositions strolls leisurely through the park beneath a statue of Hercules, paragon of physical strength, who earned his way into heaven through hard work.

Creator

Thomas Rowlandson (1756-1827)

Source

[no text]

Publisher

Thomas Tegg, London

Date

1810

Contributor

Debra Cashion, in collaboration with Elisabeth Barrett, '15

Format

Hand-colored etching; original dimensions, 336 x 239 mm

Language

[no text]

Type

Still image

Identifier

[no text]

Coverage

[no text]

Files

Dropsy Courting Consumption (2).jpg

Collection

Citation

Thomas Rowlandson (1756-1827), “Dropsy Courting Consumption,” The Anatomist: Early Modern Medical Satire, accessed March 28, 2024, https://anatomist.omeka.net/items/show/10.