Laughter (Le Brun Travested, or Caricatures of the Passions)

A hand-colored etching shows a broadly laughing man with curly hair and a red neckerchief, pointing with his finger. Beside him, a dark cat wearing a white cap with a yellow bow sits on a draped table next to a lit candle. The caricature uses exaggerated features and soft brown and pink tones.

Look closer: Printed caption along the bottom margin, with a plate number 'No. 9' at upper right.

Artist

Thomas Rowlandson

Date

January 21, 1800

Medium

Etching, printed in brown ink, hand-colored

Source

The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Size

2822 × 3627 px

Credit (appreciated, not required for public-domain works): The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Elisha Whittelsey Collection, The Elisha Whittelsey Fund, 1959