Thomas Rowlandson - Miseries in the Country

I saw this print today and somehow it spoke to me with a chuckle - don't know why.. perhaps the caption just gave me glimpse of the life we live some days - stuck in some mud... HELP!



In 1806, Rowlandson created Miseries of the Country, which was published by Ackerman. The etching depicts a group tromping through the countryside while getting stuck in mud and being accompanied by farm animals. The inscription on the print reads:

While you are out with a walking party, after heavy rains - one shoe suddenly sucked off by the boggy clay and then in making a long and desperate stretch which fails with the hope of recovering it the other left in the same predicament: the second stage of ruin is that of standing, or rather tottering in blank despair, with both bare feet planted ankle deep in the quagmire.

The dirt and grime on the group's feet and the filth and chaos of the surrounding farm animals reflects the reality of the countryside as opposed to the idealistic, romantic notions of the time.

Wake Forest University - Department of Art - Print Collection