Uncle Toby (from Laurence Sterne's "Tristram Shandy") 1847 - 1848

Curator: Oh, I do love stumbling upon these kinds of works. Felix Octavius Carr Darley made this pencil drawing around 1847 or 1848, and it is now at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The subject is none other than Uncle Toby, from Laurence Sterne's "Tristram Shandy." Editor: My immediate impression is that Darley has captured something truly tender here. Look at the way Uncle Toby sits in his chair, the light falling softly... it feels incredibly intimate and human, despite being a quick pencil sketch. There's a real gentleness to his gaze. Curator: Absolutely! The hatching work gives a dynamic effect of lights and darks. It isn’t precisely a grand history painting—we're seeing the character not as a heroic soldier, but as a pensive individual caught in a moment of repose. But think about Sterne's original work; the heart of it is really in digressions. Editor: Right, and it’s the digressions, the personal narratives, that allow us to delve into the social and political concerns of the time. "Tristram Shandy" deconstructed storytelling. We can almost feel Toby contemplating his military past or the ridiculousness of social conventions. The slightly mournful droop to his mouth suggests a man deeply touched by life. I also notice that both his hands rest on what looks like some type of crutch, emphasizing how the injuries from his service impacted his entire life. Curator: The very sketchiness adds to the character. This pencil sketch leaves room for our own imaginations. The medium adds another dimension, reflecting the fragility and incompleteness of memory and the very human condition. Don’t you think so? Editor: I couldn't agree more. This humble medium elevates the mundane to the profound, the deeply emotional. It's also impossible to ignore the romantic spirit embedded in this drawing, connecting individual emotions to larger universal truths, as it shows a very aged white man resting contently despite life's harsh experiences. It resonates even now. Curator: This pencil drawing whispers rather than shouts, drawing us into Uncle Toby’s quiet world. There’s a delicate beauty here, isn’t there? I’m moved. Editor: I'm so glad we had a moment to appreciate the humanity in Darley’s character, captured by pencil, here at the Met. It allows the space for many intersections—the literary and the artistic, the personal and the political. It makes one truly think.