“Affettuoso (with Feeling)”
In this lively drawing titled Discord, the British satirist Thomas Rowlandson portrays the singer as a “type” whose exaggerated features—wide open mouth, head thrown back, closed eyes, and mannered posture, parody the composer’s instruction noted on the music, “affettuoso,” which means “with feeling.” This example is one of three drawings by Rowlandson in the Prints and Photographs Division; its outstanding collection of British satirical prints also includes more than sixty etchings or engravings designed by this masterful caricaturist, watercolorist, and social observer.
In this lively drawing titled <em>Discord</em>, the British satirist Thomas Rowlandson portrays the singer as a “type” whose exaggerated features—wide open mouth, head thrown back, closed eyes, and mannered posture, parody the composer’s instruction noted on the music, “affettuoso,” which means “with feeling.” This example is one of three drawings by Rowlandson in the Prints and Photographs Division; its outstanding collection of British satirical prints also includes more than sixty etchings or engravings designed by this masterful caricaturist, watercolorist, and social observer.