The Doctor Dismissing Death (1785)
Original title: The Doctor Dismissing Death
kurzbeschreibung
Peter Simon's hand-coloured etching of 1785, titled Der Arzt weist den Tod ab (The Doctor Refuses Death), stages a satirical encounter: a physician with a teacup in hand scrutinises a skull. The sheet measures 29.7 × 32.5 cm and combines etching with aquatint into a crowded caricature.
Description
A doctor in a red shirt and white breeches with yellow stripes holds a cup of tea, his gaze fixed on a skeletal skull resting on the table. Beside him sits a man in a yellow shirt and purple trousers, also busy with a cup holder. A barred window and a wall picture close off the rear, while bottles and herbs cover the table. A pot and a plate lie scattered on the floor; the wooden ceiling and green curtain decoration frame the action.
Context
The caricature appeared in England in 1785, when satirical attacks on doctors and their treatments were flourishing. Peter Simon, working as an engraver and caricaturist, took up the contemporary scepticism toward an often ineffective medicine. Aquatint, increasingly common for satirical prints in the late eighteenth century, allowed soft tonal gradations.
Impact
Strong colours and precise execution give the encounter something theatrical. The calm of the tea hour stands in sharp contrast to the macabre skull, and that very tension is likely to draw an ironic smile from the viewer.
Technique
Hand-coloured etching with aquatint: in this process fine tonal gradations are produced by resin powder and acid etching; the sheet was then coloured by hand with watercolours.
AI-generated description text
Source: Metropolitan Museum of Art · Public Domain (CC0 1.0)