Tom Jones Assisting Molly Seagrim in the Churchyard 1775

This 1775 drawing by Philippe Jacques de Loutherbourg depicts a scene from Henry Fielding's novel *Tom Jones*. The drawing, "Tom Jones Assisting Molly Seagrim in the Churchyard," is a pen-and-brown ink drawing on paper and is housed at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. The scene shows Tom Jones and Molly Seagrim, a young couple, fleeing a group of angry villagers in a churchyard. The drawing's dramatic composition and detailed setting capture the moment of tension and suspense from the novel. The scene, set against the backdrop of a church and a graveyard, highlights the romantic entanglement of the main characters and their desperate flight from danger. This small-scale drawing is a powerful example of Loutherbourg's skill as a draftsman and his ability to bring literary scenes to life with evocative imagery.