Sketch for ‘The Pilgrimage to Canterbury’, with a compositional sketch, a key to the figures, and studies of heads and figures 1806 - 1807

Editor: Here we have Thomas Stothard's "Sketch for ‘The Pilgrimage to Canterbury’" from around the late 18th or early 19th century, a pen and ink drawing at the Tate. It feels very academic and historical, like a glimpse into a past social structure. What can you tell me about its cultural context? Curator: Stothard’s sketch offers us insight into the social dynamics represented in Chaucer's "Canterbury Tales" but also into the socio-political lens through which the late 18th century viewed the medieval period. How do you think Stothard's representation engages with, or perhaps even idealizes, the concept of pilgrimage and community? Editor: I hadn't thought of it that way, but now I see how the sketch can be understood as reflecting both historical narrative and the artist's contemporary values! Curator: Exactly! It's a visual dialogue between past and present, isn’t it?