The Adventure of the Chamber Pot, plate four from Scènes du Roman Comique
Medium
Etching on ivory laid paper
Dimensions
Image: 32.5 × 28.1 cm (12 13/16 × 11 1/8 in.); Sheet: 36.9 × 29.4 cm (14 9/16 × 11 5/8 in.)
Classification
etching
Department
Prints and Drawings
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
149575
Rights
Public Domain
About this artwork
Jean-Baptiste Oudry turned his hand to comic genre in this etching, which illustrates a scene from Paul Scarron’s 1651 novel, Roman Comique. Scarron’s misanthropic and drunken character, La Rancune, accepts a merchant’s kind offer to share the inn’s last bed. Ungrateful, La Rancune repeatedly awakens his benefactor from sound sleep, demanding the chamber pot, without relieving himself. Finally, after elbowing the merchant’s stomach and nearly strangling him, he asks again, fills the chamber pot ...
About the Artist
Jean-Baptiste Oudry · 1686–1755
Comment on works: Fish; Game; Dogs; Hunt scenes