c. 1789
Caricature of a Man Reading an Inscription on a Tombstone
Felice GianiItalian, 1758 - 1823
No explanation has to date been found for the meaning of this caricature of a potbellied old man in a big hat and eccentric, military-type greatcoat studying an "antique" grave stele. The inscription on the tombstone reads "Here lies a nature-loving man, General Lazybones," perhaps an enigmatic reference to a fraught aesthetic issue of the day: whether art should be based on nature or on examples from the past.
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