Romantic Circles Gallery
Gallery Editors:
Theresa M. KelleyJacob Leveton
 A beehive sits atop a thick board, with wild-looking plants growing on either side. Grass grows around the hive's board. Seven bees hover around the top of the hive, with another at the hive's center... c. 1820s |
 As noted by curator Andrew Stevens (Chazen Museum, University of Wisconsin), this “painting is a pastiche of second-hand Italianate architecture and geography imagery supplemented with the artist's... 1791 |
 An antiquarian holds up his spectacles in his right hand to examine an object that resembles an Egyptian mummy. He stoops and holds a cane in his left hand, a tri-corner hat under his arm. He is... 1789 |
 This image depicts a confrontation between an American and a British ship, each displaying their national flag. The flag of the British ship, on the left, is upside down. Both ships have tattered... 1831 |
 The top image ("Fig. 1") depicts a brick, believed to be taken from the Tower of Babel. "Fig. 2" and "Fig. 3" each depict a canopic jar, or "canopus"; these were vases used by the ancient Egyptians... 1791 |
 This engraving appears as a full-page plate accompanying R. S. Kirby’s description of Merlin’s biography and famous inventions and automata. It depicts an oval bust portrait of John Joseph Merlin... Delineator: Harding, George Perfect 3 July 1803 |
 Napoleon is singularly depicted in this image. He is standing on a platform in front of his throne carrying a scepter. He is wearing a blue robe with a purple, fur-trimmed cape. Upon his head is a... Delineator: Cruikshank, George 1828 |
 Engraver: Daniell, Thomas 1795 |
 This image depicts a battle between the French and the Austrians. The Austrians are situated primarily on the left side of the bridge while the French are on the right. The Austrians are wearing... Delineator: Cruikshank, George 28 November 1814 |
 Dr. Syntax falls backward off his rocky seat into the water. Though his hat has fallen into the water, he still clutches his pen and journal: he has evidently been sketching the moss-covered ruins of... 1 May 1812 |
 Dr. Syntax sits on his horse at the center of the engraving, holding an open sketchbook and pen; an open umbrella appears to be tucked under his arm. A local fisherman and his dog stand behind him;... 1 May 1812 |
 At the piano, a young wife in a drooping bonnet plays the piano and sings with a wide open mouth. She rolls her eyes back, as if to ascertain whether her husband is listening, or perhaps to ensure... Delineator: Gillray, James 25 September 1805 |
 “Plate I” has six figures which illustrate experiments and problems on the nature of light. Figure 1 is a diagram of light reflecting off a polished surface. Figures 2 and 3 illustrate light... 1803 |
 This large map, measuring 71 x 98cm, details the topography of Rome and its environs, from Lacus Sabatinus [Lago di Bracciano] in the north to Norba in the south, and from Nerola in the east to the... September 1834 |
 In a large green exhibition hall, a crowd gathers to attend the auction. Men and women sit on benches in the middle of the room: most face the auctioneer standing in the rostrum, though some converse... Delineator: Pugin, Augustus Charles, Rowlandson, Thomas 1808 |
 1787 |
 This image presents the same view as the first in the gallery, with some alterations (the over-slip attached to the illustration constituted by these two images has been lifted). We still have a view... Collaborator: Repton, John Adey 1 February 1816 |
 To the left, two trees stand out among a small copse; their branches extend along the uppermost border of the sketch, framing the scene. The Abbey itself rests in the right half of the sketch,... 1782 |
 Two ships are portrayed in the center right of the image, a rowboat between them. The ship on the right is British, its flag displayed on the right side. It is more brightly colored and has more... 1783 |
 A bank of thick clouds hovers over the standing stones, with sunlight shining through to illuminate the center of the monument. A flock of sheep grazes in the foreground on the course grass, some... Engraver: Wallis, Robert 1829 |
 This image provides multiple illustrations of skulls and famous busts, providing measurements for each by which organ size can be determined. Note especially the famous political figures, as well as... 1847 |
 Preserving dried flowers and a scrap of wallpaper, this page is found in the album that was kept over many years by the salonnière and painter Elizabeth (Eliza) Aders. The pasted-in piece of... |
 A man, imprisoned, sits in the corner of a cell next to a barred window through which two figures stare. The captive wears a large brimmed hat, long curled wig, and cravat, which date the sitter to... 1819 |
 c. 1819-20 |
 On this album page a wreath formed of cut-outs of flowers and leaves serves as a frame for a poem composed by the nineteenth-century playwright and humorist Douglas Jerrold and addressed to Annie... |
 The image shows a man sitting up in bed, lifting one hand, as if explaining something. Clothes are drawn in an elaborate fashion with a close attention to such details as buttons and wrinkles. The... 1818 |
 Napoleon on his characteristic white horse is at the forefront of this image, which depicts the French army’s early attempt to cross the Alps. Other men, who are both on horseback and on foot,... 1828 |
 Delineator: Pugin, Augustus Charles, Rowlandson, Thomas 1808 |
 Lady Cecilia Johnstone is in profile, seated on a large golden chamber pot. Her brow is slightly furrowed and her gaze intensely focused. She rests her chin in her hand, her elbow propped upon her... Delineator: Gillray, James 19 September 1791 |
 In the catalogue Indian Miniature Painting, Chandra describes Portrait of a Lady: “The lady wears a pink skirt and a white robe. She is sensitively drawn, the linear rhythms,... 1800 |
 1824 |
 360.—Richmond Castle, from the River Swale, placed in the bottom left corner of page eighty nine, depicts the castle as seen from the banks of the Swale river. A bridge extends from the... Editor: Knight, Charles c. Early 19th century |
 Two dark figures stand near a canoe in the front right foreground. Far behind them is an empty town at the base of Mount Vesuvius. The volcano emits swirling grey smoke which covers the top three... 1823 |
 Carefully annotated sketches such as this one, which served as a basis for explanations of how hot air balloons were filled, were included in books such as Tiberius Cavallo’s 1785 The History and... 1 January 1785 |
 A large stone stela, facing forward, depicts a Maya deity decorated with myriad visual embellishments, its fists clenched upon its chest. The background depicts the small clearing in which the stela... Delineator: Catherwood, Frederick 1841 |
 With church spires rising above it in the very center of the background, Bartholmew Fair is in full swing, crowded with people and chaos. Overflowing the square—with the hospital on one side, a... Delineator: Rowlandson, Thomas 1808 |
 The top image, labeled "Fig. 1," is a spider's nest, while the image directly below it depicts the accompanying valve. The figure below the valve is a card of silk made from the spider's thread,... 1791 |
 Dr. Syntax is in the center of the print, sitting on an overturned washtub and drawing in his sketchbook. In front of him to the left are a bevy of farm animals, including Syntax’s own donkey,... 1 May 1812 |
 Dr. Syntax sits on the right-hand side of the back row in the pit, alongside a critic and a wit (Combe 223). He and his fellow theater-goers face the unfolding drama on the stage: two men battle over... Delineator: Rowlandson, Thomas 1 May 1812 |
 Three men in white wigs with shawls over their heads gaze contemplatively at the moon from a bank of dark clouds. The moon is made up of two faces: the light side is smiling, while the dark side is... 1791 |
 Within the elaborate frame printed on one page of the E. Boyes album by the book’s manufacturer, someone has pasted in shiny blue foil so as to form a second frame. This surrounds an arrangement... |
 This image depicts a death's-head moth on a white background, with wings outstretched. 1831 |
 The Queen of Candy, the Candian king’s daughter, poses in a chair, legs crossed, against a mountainous landscape. Her elongated neck is covered with exotic, shell-like jewelry. Her hair is bound... Engraver: Woodman, Richard 10 January 1833 |
 Cutting a nearly perfect diagonal across the picture plane from the top left corner, the ruins of the Temple of Peace, or Basilica of Maxentius, loom large on the canvas, casting a shadow on the... 1779 |
 1815 |
 c. 1790s |
 A schematic drawing shows the two halves of Burford’s Description of a View of the Great Temple of Karnak and the Surrounding City of Thebes: the top half depicts the Karnak Temple as a... 1839 |
 The image portrays a sea dark with swells—no whitecaps—interrupted by large, sharp-edged, wildly-shaped icebergs that have been carved out at their bases by the incessant motion of the waves. Two... Delineator: Back, Sir George 1828 |
 Similar to the central figure of A Hindoo Female, the subject of The Rajpootnee Bride is initially striking on account her size; the female body fills the space of the image. The... Engraver: Woodman, Richard 1835 |
 Two cocks are fighting on the left side of the cockpit; one foot of each feeder is visible at opposite ends of the fighting table, (usually constructed as a large table enclosed by a raised rim of... Delineator: Hogarth, William 5 November 1759 |
