The Duenna's Return, from "Illustrated London News"
May 19, 1860
Medium
Wood engraving
Dimensions
Image: 7 5/8 × 10 1/2 in. (19.3 × 26.7 cm) Sheet: 8 1/16 × 10 3/4 in. (20.4 × 27.3 cm)
Classification
Prints
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gift of Donato Esposito, 2015
Accession Number
2015.653.6
Rights
Public Domain
Tags
Art Historical Context
"The Duenna's Return," published in the Illustrated London News on May 19, 1860, captures a lively Victorian interior scene featuring women, a watchful dog, and musical instruments. Designed by genre painter John Callcott Horsley and engraved on wood by William Luson Thomas, the print depicts the moment a stern chaperone re-enters a domestic space, likely interrupting a flirtatious or musical interlude among younger figures. Horsley’s anecdotal style, rooted in mid-Victorian narrative painting, translates effectively into the crisp lines of wood engraving, inviting viewers to imagine the story...
About the Artist
William Luson Thomas|John Callcott Horsley (British|British) · 1834 |1830 –1928 |1900
British, London 1834–1928 The Hague|British, London 1830–1900 Chertsey, Surrey