Thomas Rowlandson

Thomas Rowlandson’s satirical pictures and prints poked fun at every aspect of English society. Here he gently ridicules the 18th-century Grand Tour and the culture of refinement it fostered among the wealthy and privileged. These gentlemen Cognoscenti (Italian for connoisseurs) meet to share knowledge and compare collections of art and antiquities, such as the two busts displayed on ledges on the left wall. However, the distorted faces of these statues and the sleepy demeanor of the men suggest that their intellectual interests may be more social performance than genuine scholarly pursuit—that they only claim to have a higher appreciation for Italy’s history and artifacts. Such elite circles soon widened and diversified as travel became affordable for the middle classes in the 19th century.