The Toilet
by BEARDSLEY, Aubrey Vincent, Pen and black ink, traces of graphite underdrawing, 256 x 174 mm (sheet)
In this tour de force of pen and ink work, Beardsley illustrates an early scene in Alexander Pope’s satirical masterpiece The Rape of the Lock, in which the heroine, Belinda, primps in her boudoir. Reflecting the poem’s emphasis on contrived rather than natural beauty, the drawing is densely layered with artifice. A view of an idyllic garden with a cupola-topped pavilion is glimpsed not through a window as it would first seem but on a folding screen. Bejewelled bottles litter the table, emblems of Belinda’s vanity.
The Rape of the Lock is a mock-heroic narrative poem written by Alexander Pope. One of the most commonly cited examples of high burlesque, it was first published in two cantos (1712); a revised edition in five cantos followed in 1714. The final form of the poem appeared in 1717. The poem was much translated and contributed to the growing popularity of mock-heroic in Europe.