Monstrous Male Figure, Caliban? c. 1770s

Editor: This is John Hamilton Mortimer’s sketch "Monstrous Male Figure, Caliban?" It's a striking drawing, mostly in pencil with some red chalk. It's unsettling, almost grotesque. What's your take on it? Curator: Mortimer's exploration of the monstrous aligns with a broader late 18th-century fascination with the sublime and the grotesque. Consider the social anxieties around class and what was considered "civilized." How might this image play into those anxieties, reflecting or challenging them? Editor: It's interesting to consider it within that framework, almost like a caricature of the lower classes. Curator: Precisely. The public role of art then was often to reinforce or question societal norms, making images like this politically charged. It encourages us to think about the power dynamics inherent in representation. Editor: That sheds new light on it. I had only focused on the monster, but it says much more about society than I initially thought! Curator: Indeed, art often holds up a mirror, reflecting our own prejudices and assumptions back at us.