Romantic Circles Gallery
Gallery Editors:
Theresa M. KelleyJacob Leveton
The image depicts a broad, flat plain, interrupted at its further end by a grey body of water. In the distance, a low mountain range looms in vague, dark contours against the sky, nearly touching the... 1792 |
c. 1824-25 |
Art historian Pramod Chandra describes this scene:
A lady, who has taken her seat opposite the craftsmen, is trying on bangles. The various tools of the trade are laid out before the man... 1800 |
A woman in a black cloak with a young bonneted girl behind her stands in a covered, open-air market filled with baskets of fruits and fresh goods. The woman grips a large basket of grapes and looks... 1835 |
This page of watercolor painting and cut paper work is found in an album compiled around 1822 and 1823 in honor of a certain Miss [Louisa?] Gilman. At the page’s center is a footed vase, classical... |
Delineator: Pugin, Augustus Charles, Rowlandson, Thomas 1808 |
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 |
The illustration depicts a man sleeping in bed with his mouth open; he wears a nightcap, and only his face is visible above the covers. A miniature sultan, with a dark visage and an immense moustache... 1836 |
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 |
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,... Author: Ireland, William Henry 1828 |
Abraham kneels on a flat plain before three winged angels who stand conversing among themselves. Some hills and trees stand in the distance, and the sky is furrowed with thick, wavy lines that... 1782 |
This image depicts an icescape in fog. The immediate foreground features a prominent rock jutting out of the ground to the left, next to what appears to be a large vertebra. The center portion of the... Delineator: Back, Sir George 1836 |
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 Author: Combe, William 1 May 1812 |
A crew rows their boat away from the viewer and towards the mouth of a river in lightly choppy seas. A man standing in back steers with the rudder oar. A sand beach extends on the left, while bluffs... Delineator: Back, Sir George 1836 |
A young man has two caged doves which he holds up for display. |
This scene is depicted from the low perspective of a river. In the right foreground, two trees extend their branches over the river. A structure with arched openings sits on the opposite bank; this... Author: Gilpin, William 1800 |
This image portrays three ships and a row boat, presumably transporting the pilot to the central frigate. The ocean is rough with small waves, and the sails of the ships billow with wind. Both the... 1797 |
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 Author: Ireland, William Henry 1828 |
An obese and rosy Lady Emma Hamilton in a white nightgown and nightcap sits up in her bed with arms and legs splayed outward, pushing the sea-foam green curtains of the canopy back. Her gaze is... Delineator: Gillray, James 6 February 1802 |
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... Author: Cavallo, Tiberius 1 January 1785 |
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 |
The woman depicted is named, like the image, by her work: “the fruit seller.” The fruit seller stands in the foreground, leaning against the pole of a stand, her breasts exposed and her head lowered... Engraver: Woodman, Richard 1835 |
In his A Dictionary of Arts, Manufactures, and Mines, Andrew Ure provides a lengthy explanation for the mechanical workings displayed in this simple line-drawing. He begins by describing its... Author: Ure, Andrew 1839 |
A phrenologist lectures to a seated audience. The writing below the print identifies the phrenologist as James De Ville; however, M. George posits that the phrenologist is George Combe (George 606).... Delineator: Lump, J. September 1826 |
Cliffs, presumably near New Weir (spelled “New Wear” in the title), stretch upward, taking up most of the left half of the print. In the foreground, at the foot of the cliffs, is a small house. A... Delineator: Cooper, Robert Bransby Author: Bloomfield, Robert 1830 |
“The balloon over Helsbye-Hill in Chester, at half past II on Thursday the 8th of September, 1785. It is seen in the southwest quarter. The view was taken in a high field, at the end of Sutton-... Delineator: Stothard, Thomas, Newton, R. Author: Baldwin, Thomas 1 May 1786 |
The subject, Chepstow Castle, dominates most of the print, sitting across the water from the viewer. It is in a state of ruin: ivy climbs up the towers, and the tops of the rightmost towers are... Delineator: Cooper, Robert Bransby Author: Bloomfield, Robert 1813 |
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 |
This image uses scientific diagrams to depict sound waves and vibrational patterns. The specific phenomena depicted by the various figures and the import of these depictions are discussed at length... Author: Young, Thomas 1800 |
A toddler, or Swedenborgian “angel,” extends a hand over a group of grotesque, gargoyle-like figures writhing in pain. The child is illumined, while the other figures are cast in shadow. c. 18th century |
At the forefront of the image is a horse-drawn buggy carrying a cannon, which is stuck in the snow. Two horses appear to have been pulling the buggy; however, one of them has fallen over. The other... Delineator: Cruikshank, George Author: Ireland, William Henry 1828 |
John Auldjo, the artist himself, stands on the far right of the image, poking the lava with a cane and holding a cloth over his mouth. In the background, the eruption of Vesuvius’ small cone, Monte... Author: Auldjo, John Richardson 1845 |
The "rout" (or boisterous throng) mentioned in the title of this hand-coloured etching, stretches from the left- to the right-hand side of the page, filling the lower-half of the design. It is... June 1823 |
A native “Hindoo” woman is portrayed carrying three pots of water on her head as she descends down to the river. The viewer is presented with a voyeuristic gaze of her backside; the implied motion of... Engraver: Taylor, William Dean 1836 |
Five wreaths of human hair have been looped through ribbons of various colors, which have in turn been stitched onto a page in a handmade booklet. The booklet, crafted out of sheets of light blue... |
Figures 1 and 2 depict two small hummingbirds, each of which appear to be either plummeting from a height or flying at a downward angle. The large bird below them, figure 4, is a Bird of Paradise,... 1791 |
A black man in a sailor’s uniform leans on a crutch and cane in a nondescript environment. In his left hand he holds a brimmed hat, while atop his head sits an elaborate model ship affixed to a... Author: Smith, John Thomas 1817 |
A Hindu woman, wearing a short-sleeved dress, walks away from the basket in which she has placed her baby. A scarf is draped over her head, and she holds one end in her left hand. Her right hand is... 1800 |
The empress of the moths, a saturnia pavonia minor, perches on a leaf. She is reading her visitor's book. The emperor, a male of the same species, sits on the branch facing her. To their left, in the... 1831 |
The image depicts a momument, inscribed with an epitaph, in two parts: the topmost figure appears to be the top of a momument, while the figure below it may be the base. The upper part is decorated... 1834 |
“Plate 16” features nine figures which illustrate devices used to create optical illusions. Three of the colored figures depict different forms of magic lanterns and how they are operated in order to... Author: Guyot, Edme-Gilles 1775 |
In the near center of the image, slightly to the right, a stern, sad woman is depicted, holding on to a walking stick and pointing to the sky with her left hand. On her left, a woman with an... 1 August 1803 |
The Grand West Entrance to Jedburgh Abbey is at the perfect center of the composition. The sequence of intricately carved arches framing the comparatively small, rectangular door creates a tunneling... 19 September 1846 |
At least fourteen ships are engaged in battle. Dark smoke billows up from the surface of the water on the left horizon line, spreading to either side of the sky and obscuring the entire top of the... 1831 |
1826 |
George IV, pictured as a guard, stands before a door, holding a pole with an evidence bag which reads "BEWARE of the Report of a BAD HOUSE." From the house's open window, Queen Caroline holds a torch... Delineator: Cruikshank, George 1820 |
This image, which presented viewers with the image of a boy riding an enormous eagle high above a sea coast, above the title “The Art of Lying Burlesqued in an Account of A Wonderful Flight or... c. 1793 |
This portrait depicts a young woman, in colorful costume, seated on the ground against a large rock by the sea. The large outcrop of rock is crowned with a variety of vegetation. Mountains can be... 1831 |
View of Mottram depicts the village of Mottram in Cheshire. 16 July 1794 |
The titular 9th, 10th, and 11th windows of the North Aisle of Westminster Abbey form the background of the print. In the foreground, a variety of people walk around and look at the monuments along... Delineator: White, John Author: Combe, William 11 October 1812 |