The Captive

Artist John Raphael Smith (British, 1752 - 1812)

After Joseph Wright of Derby (English, 1734 - 1797)

Date1779

MediumMezzotint

DimensionsMargins trimmed into bottom of platemark: 17 11/16 x 21 7/8 in. (45 x 55.5 cm) Sheet: 17 11/16 x 25 1/16 in. (45 x 63.6 cm)

Credit LinePurchased through the John A. Petersen Print Acquisition Fund

CultureBritish

Object numberPC2011.11.01

ClassificationsPrint Collection

DescriptionA solitary man, chained at the ankle, sits in pool of light atop a pile of straw. He is wrapped in a billowing piece of cloth, though his torso remains bare. He looks pitifully up towards the vaulted ceiling of his cell. Lights comes in from a single source--a window just visible on the left--creating a dramatic atmosphere of highlights and deeply darkened shadows. This is an imagined scene taken from a novel by Laurence Stern entitled "A Sentimental Journey Through France and Italy" (1768). The print is made after the painting of the same title by Joseph Wright of Derby.
InterpretationsThe image depicted here is taken from a popular work of travel fiction at the time, “A Sentimental Journey Through France and Italy,” (1768) by novelist Laurence Sterne. In this scene, Sterne’s guileless narrator imagines himself a prisoner in the Bastille, arrested for forgetting to bring his passport while touring Paris. English artist Joseph Wright of Derby exhibited his painting of the subject at the Royal Academy of Art in 1778, subsequently purchased by collector John Milnes. Milnes, in turn, commissioned John Raphael Smith to reproduce the painting as a print. A specialist in mezzotint, Smith proved a fitting choice. Unlike most intaglio methods, mezzotint is a reductive process: the copper plate is scored with thousands of small pits that hold the printing ink to create a deep black background; the design is then scratched and burnished to introduce areas of light. The result is a rich, velvety image, emulating the chiaroscuro effect (dramatic contrasts of light and dark) for which Wright was celebrated. Only 20 impressions of the print were published, making this work fairly rare. USD is the only public collection outside of the UK known to hold the print. The painting by Wright is now in the collection of the Derby Museum and Art Gallery.

Interpretationsafter Joseph Wright of Derby (1734-1797); Acquired with a gift from Robert & Karen Hoehn

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