Schoolboys Giving Charity to a Blind Man
Original title: Schoolboys Giving Charity to a Blind Man
kurzbeschreibung
Made by John Raphael Smith in 1781, this hand-coloured mezzotint in its second state gathers four boys around a blind man seated on the ground. Each boy places a gift into the collecting bowl he holds out, and a dog lies resting at his side.
Description
The meeting unfolds outdoors, with trees and buildings framing the view. Four boys dressed in eighteenth-century clothes stand about the blind man; one carries a drawing stand with paper, a sign of his work as a draughtsman. The seated figure keeps the bowl ready as the coins and gifts drop in, while the dog lies beside him. Muted tones and natural light shape the whole sheet.
Context
Smith was an English engraver and painter whose mezzotints brought him particular renown. He produced this subject in 1781, in the late eighteenth century, when scenes of charity and social virtue appeared often in British art. That taste reflects the period's interest in moral subjects and in the portrayal of everyday life.
Impact
Quietly and with sympathy the print meets the viewer, without sliding into sentimentality. The natural lighting and restrained colouring give the encounter something intimate, almost documentary, that invites a compassionate response.
Technique
The image is a mezzotint, an intaglio process in which the plate is roughened all over with a rocking tool. The light passages are then smoothed down, producing soft gradations of tone. Hand-colouring added afterwards heightens the effect of the sheet.
AI-generated description text
Source: Metropolitan Museum of Art · Public Domain (CC0 1.0)