English and French Medical Caricatures, circa 1760-1835

Caricature by definition is a representation in which the subject’s distinctive features or peculiarities are deliberately exaggerated to produce a comic or grotesque effect. Nineteenth-century medicine provided caricaturists with a wealth of material. Artists humorously exaggerated medical conditions and physical characteristics. Bulbous noses, protruding stomachs, and hunched backs were some of the more common features drawn to extraordinary proportions. Bizarre treatments, massive doses of pills, and excessive bloodletting, prescribed by trained physicians and quack doctors alike, were all lampooned. Suffering and discomfort from disease and the patient’s reaction to medical treatment were also fodder for the satirist’s pen.

While some caricatures were straightforward in their message, others contained yet another layer of meaning. Medical conditions could symbolize failed interpersonal relationships, national political affairs, and everything in between. Ailments caused by the follies of fashion, such as ill-fitting footwear or constricting corsets, inspired many drawings. Artists also directly linked illness to excesses in nineteenth-century social life, particularly over-consumption of food and alcohol.

The 37 caricatures displayed in this exhibit are divided into two groups: English and French. The English prints are predominately drawn by two of the more famous British caricaturists, James Gillray and George Cruikshank. The French caricatures include artwork by J.J. Grandville, Louis-Léopold Boilly, and Edme Jean Pigal.

English Caricature: Precariousness of Life Heroic Medicine Pray Remember the Poor Debtors Quacks & Nostrums Doomed Relationships Fashionable Follies Nineteenth-Century Excess English Artists Footnotes, Bibliography, & Links

French Caricature: Scenes of the Day Medicine in France Medical Caricatures or Political Commentary? Hunchbacks: Mocked or Mocker? Public Health: The Need Is Pressing Wet Nursing: Paying Consumers French Artists Footnotes, Bibliography, & Links