Comforts of Bath: Gouty Persons Fall on Steep HIll
Date:
1798
Materials & Techniques:
Watercolor, pen and black ink, and graphite; verso: extensive watercolor blots on medium, slightly textured, cream wove paper
Dimensions:
Mount: 5 13/16 x 8 5/16 inches (14.8 x 21.1 cm)
Credit Line:
Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection
Copyright Status:
Public Domain
Accession Number:
B1975.3.58
Gallery Label:
In this drawing, another design for The Comforts of Bath, Rowlandson’s humor lies in the incongruity between the polite architecture in the background and the impolite activities going on in front of it, as well as in the underlying absurdity of building a health resort for convalescents upon precipitous hills. A coach goes careering around the corner; porters collapse under the weight of a sedan chair; and one unfortunate invalid flies out of his chair as it runs out of control down the hill. Rather than offering a place to recuperate, Rowlandson’s Bath is a city that is a danger to life and limb. Gallery label for Great British Watercolors from the Paul Mellon Collection at the Yale Center for British Art (Yale Center for British Art, 2008-06-09 - 2008-08-17)
