Love and Learning, or the Oxford Scholar 1786

Benjamin Smith created this print, "Love and Learning, or the Oxford Scholar" around 1796. It depicts a scene of romantic entanglement, overlaid with social commentary, reflecting the mores of late 18th-century England. The image presents us with an Oxford scholar, caught in a compromising embrace. Another woman looks on in disapproval. The print’s visual codes and cultural references invite us to consider the social expectations placed on young men of academia, expectations of both intellectual rigor and moral uprightness. Smith's work, made at a time of strict social structures, can be seen as a commentary on the tension between personal desires and public roles. It poses questions about the social pressures faced by scholars and critiques the institutions that perpetuate those pressures. To truly understand such works, the art historian must delve into the period's visual culture, as well as its literary and social history. Only by examining these resources can we appreciate the full meaning of art as a product of its time.