The Captive
Date1786
Geography
Published -
England
Medium/TechniqueInk on paper; engraving
DimensionsOverall (H x W): 18 1/2 in. x 21 1/2 in. (46.99 cm x 54.61 cm)
Credit LinePurchased by the A. Alfred Taubman Acquisition Endowment Fund, 1997
Object numberPrint-5226/RP-823
DescriptionThis print is a depiction of a thin, half-clothed, bearded man chained in a dungeon.Published ReferencesCatalogue of the Very Important Collection of Rare Americana and Fine Engravings Formed by the Late Edwin Babcock Holden, (New York: American Art Galleries, 1910), No. 383.
Ethel Deane, "Boydell and His Engravers", The Collector, Containing Articles and Illustrations, Reprinted from The Queen Newspaper, of Interest to the Great Body of Collectors, on China, Engravings, Etc, Volume 3, (London: Horace Cox, 1907), 216.
Julia Frankau, Eighteenth Century Colour Prints: An Essay on Certain Stipple Engravers & Their Work in Colour, (London: Macmillan & Co., 1906), 272.
MarkingsPrinted in ink below the bottom-left corner of the image: "Joseph Wright, Pinxit".
Printed in ink below the image, centered: "John and Josiah Boydell exudit / The Captive / I beheld his body half wasted away with long expectation and confinement and felt what kind of sickness of the heart it was which arises from hope / deferr'd. Upon looking nearer I saw him pale and feverish in thirty years the Western breeze had not once fann'd his blood. / He had seen, no sun, no moon, in all that time. nor had the voice of friend or kinsman breathed through his lattice. But here my heart began to bleed.-Vide Sternes Sentimental Journey. / Pulblished 1786 by John and Josiah Boydell No. 90 Cheapside, London"
Printed in ink below the bottom-right corner of the image: "Ryder, Sculpsit".
Mount Vernon's object research is ongoing and information about this object is subject to change. For information on image use and reproductions, click here.
1753-1754
c. 1837-1857
1859
c. 1814
c. 1860
c.1863
