The married man or The happy family

This watercolor is a relatively unusual example in Rowlandson's oeuvre of a work that is entirely devoid of caricature; indeed it is a straightforward representation of domestic bliss. Apart from the subject matter, elements such as the lute, traditionally a symbol of harmony, the loyal dog by his master's side and the painting of Venus with the infant Cupid, representing love, on the wall behind the father, combined with the gentle palette, all emphasize the gentle and harmonious nature of the work.

From the 1720s and 1730s, a move away from formal portraits towards more relaxed, domestic groups or Conversation Pieces began to emerge. Artists such as William Hogarth (1697-1764) in the 1730s and later Thomas Gainsborough, R.A. (1727-1788) and Johann Zoffany, R.A. (1733-1810) did much to popularize this form of portraiture. The present watercolor is a rare example of Rowlandson looking at and interpreting more conventional forms of art.

As John Hayes has noted the artist 'has kept his penwork to a minimum and allowed the colour, pale but sympathetic to the mood of the subject matter, to ring out in broad, clean washes' (J. Hayes, op. cit., p.120). Indeed the artist's penwork in the present watercolor, although rapidly executed, is highly sophisticated: his rococo line is reminiscent of Gainsborough, whose work he admired.