The Grace
Print
18/07/1775 (published)
18/07/1775 (published)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
This print by John Raphael Smith is based upon a painting by George Carter. The image refers to a scene in Laurence Sterne's A Sentimental Journey Through France and Italy(1768), entitled The Grace. After a disaster when his horse loses two shoes, Parson Yorick is obliged to spend the night in a French peasant's house:
"When supper was over, the old man gave a knock upon the table with the haft of his knife - to bid them prepare for the dance [...] all his life long he had made it a rule, after supper was over, to call out his family to dance and rejoice; believing, he said, that a chearful and contented mind was the best sort of thanks to heaven that an illiterate peasant could pay -
- Or a learned prelate either, said I."
Carter also painted another scene from A Sentimental Journey, using his daughter as the model for Maria. Smith used the painting of Miss Carter as Maria as the basis for another print, published in 1774.
"When supper was over, the old man gave a knock upon the table with the haft of his knife - to bid them prepare for the dance [...] all his life long he had made it a rule, after supper was over, to call out his family to dance and rejoice; believing, he said, that a chearful and contented mind was the best sort of thanks to heaven that an illiterate peasant could pay -
- Or a learned prelate either, said I."
Carter also painted another scene from A Sentimental Journey, using his daughter as the model for Maria. Smith used the painting of Miss Carter as Maria as the basis for another print, published in 1774.
Object details
| Category | |
| Object type | |
| Title | The Grace (assigned by artist) |
| Materials and techniques | Mezzotint |
| Brief description | 'The Grace', mezzotint by John Raphael Smith after George Carter, 1775. |
| Physical description | Print with a depiction of a group of country folk dancing outside a cottage doorway. |
| Dimensions |
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| Style | |
| Marks and inscriptions | 'That a Chearfull and Contented Mind is the best thanks an Illiterate Peasant can Pay. Vide Yoricks Sentimental Journey Vol.II Page 192. Geo. Carter pinxt. J.R. Smith fecit. London, Printed for R. Sayer, & J. Bennett, No. 53 Fleet Street: Published as the Act directs. 18 July 1775.' (Lettered with title and inscription) |
| Credit line | Given by Edgar Seligman |
| Literary reference | Laurence Sterne, A Sentimental Journey |
| Summary | This print by John Raphael Smith is based upon a painting by George Carter. The image refers to a scene in Laurence Sterne's A Sentimental Journey Through France and Italy(1768), entitled The Grace. After a disaster when his horse loses two shoes, Parson Yorick is obliged to spend the night in a French peasant's house: "When supper was over, the old man gave a knock upon the table with the haft of his knife - to bid them prepare for the dance [...] all his life long he had made it a rule, after supper was over, to call out his family to dance and rejoice; believing, he said, that a chearful and contented mind was the best sort of thanks to heaven that an illiterate peasant could pay - - Or a learned prelate either, said I." Carter also painted another scene from A Sentimental Journey, using his daughter as the model for Maria. Smith used the painting of Miss Carter as Maria as the basis for another print, published in 1774. |
| Bibliographic references |
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| Collection | |
| Accession number | E.4954-1960 |
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| Record created | June 30, 2009 |
| Record URL |
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