The Honey Moon (The English Dance of Death, plate 13)
Original title: The Honey Moon (The English Dance of Death, plate 13)
kurzbeschreibung
Thomas Rowlandson made 'The Honeymoon' as a plate from his series 'The English Dance of Death', dated 1 August 1814. It shows a couple in an interior, laughing and drinking wine. The work was executed as an etching with aquatint and watercolour.
Description
A man in a red cap sits at the centre, laughing and holding a wine glass; beside him a woman in a yellow bodice and cream skirt laughs too. A red sofa and a table cluttered with objects frame them, while a dog lies on the floor. A second man in a brown hat and red coat has stretched out on the ground and appears to be asleep. Green curtains frame a window, next to which is a sign with the monogram 'T. C.'. Above it all hovers a skeleton holding a light.
Context
Rowlandson's satirical series 'The English Dance of Death' revolves around the omnipresence of death. For the accompanying verses the artist teamed up with the poet William Combe. Rowlandson was known for his humorous, socially critical caricatures. The publication of this plate fell on 1 August 1814, a period of political and social upheaval in Britain after the Napoleonic Wars.
Impact
Cheerful everyday life and the grim presence of death meet here, creating an unsettling interplay of comedy and melancholy. The bright colours and the exuberant mood of the figures are in tension with the hovering skeleton, which warns of mortality.
Technique
The work was made using etching and aquatint, followed by colouring with watercolours. Fine tonal gradations come from the aquatint, precise contours from the etching. Hand-colouring gives the sheet its warm, lively colourfulness.
AI-generated description text
Source: Metropolitan Museum of Art · Public Domain (CC0 1.0)