Minneapolis Institute of Art

Long Tom & Mad[emoisel]le G-d. Going to the Pantheon in Their Natural Masks

William Austin

Date

1773

Medium

Hand-colored etching with pen and ink additions

Department

European Art

Institution

Minneapolis Institute of Art

Masquerade balls at the Pantheon were staples of London society in the 1770s. This devastating caricature presents Sir Thomas Robinson and his mistress, an unnamed Mademoiselle G, going to a ball, accompanied by a footman. Sir Thomas was famously a man about town, an enthusiastic partygoer who was nearly bankrupted in his youth from throwing too many extravagant balls himself. In his 70s at the time of this print, he was an original investor in the construction of the Pantheon, built for fashionable winter entertainments. He also served as director of the entertainments at Ranelagh Gardens-a summertime venue for persons of fashion. In his final years Sir Thomas was nearly blind and very tall and thin-hence the moniker Long Tom-making him, one of society's most celebrated figures, an easy target for the caricaturist's etching needle. England, Europe

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