Doctor Syntax en vijf andere figuren op een begraafplaats 1820

Curator: Standing here, we're looking at a watercolor illustration, “Doctor Syntax en vijf andere figuren op een begraafplaats”, or "Doctor Syntax and Five Other Figures in a Cemetery", by Thomas Rowlandson, around 1820. It's a curious dance of the macabre, wouldn't you say? Editor: My first impression is definitely grim—though a strangely… jovial grim. The way Rowlandson has rendered the scene in this light wash is odd, as I immediately wonder if that groundkeeper knows the value of the artifacts in his hands? Curator: That’s Rowlandson for you; finding humor in odd places! The light, as you noticed, tempers what would otherwise be quite a morbid scene. Observe how Rowlandson plays with the graveyard setting—its stones, gates and figures acting less as symbols of death and more like players on a crowded stage. Editor: True, but let’s consider the materiality for a moment. Watercolors—they weren’t exactly considered the medium for serious art back then, were they? Rowlandson making social commentary using this accessible medium, speaks volumes, no pun intended. I imagine many such works of this type went unsigned at the time, however, Rowlandson found a way to commodify his satirical images in albums. It appears he valued and even made lucrative that labor. Curator: Exactly! And to that end, what do you make of our protagonist? "Doctor Syntax" as the title suggests…is seemingly impeding the way of others from moving across the gravesite with the somewhat eager sexton who seemingly has the earth ripped apart to hand off a fresh dug-up skull! Editor: I mean the scene’s theatrical nature does suggest something’s at play beneath the surface here. It's also telling that a clergyman seems so… disconnected from his flock’s reality? Are we laughing at class division, perhaps? And this almost stage-like composition… feels like an indictment of performative mourning. This commodified sadness, eh? It would seem that Mr. Rowlandson wanted us all to think about this in some way shape or form and question it at its very core. Curator: So in the end we must ask what Rowlandson has really done—has he poked fun at mortality, or just those of us on display for our limited time of existence? Editor: Seems, as is often the case, it may be both. This artwork seems like a wonderful time-capsule example for any and all of us.