Thomas Rowlandson
Begging for Alms
c. 1805
When he wasn't lampooning the buffoonery of the lower classes, Rowlandson turned his satiric attention to the wicked excesses of the upper classes. Here, a man of ample means brushes away a destitute mother of two. With her exposed breast and clinging infants, the woman looks ironically like the traditional symbol of Christian charity.
Artist
Title
Begging for Alms
Date
c. 1805
Medium
Drawing
Materials
pen and reddish-brown ink with watercolour over graphite on wove paper, laid down on greenish-grey laid paperDimensions
30.4 x 22.3 cm
Nationality
British
Credit line
Purchased 1925
Accession number
3234
