DISCOVERART

William Johnson

Love and Nature Do Not Know These Distances

19th century
Lithograph in black on ivory laid paper
26.2 × 34.6 cm (10.3 × 13.6 in)

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In the collection of Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago · as of July 2026

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FROM THE ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO’S CATALOG

Here Caroline of Brunswick, briefly the estranged queen to George IV of England, was scathingly caricatured for her supposed affair with her much taller Italian manservant, Bartolomeo Pergami. Similar prints by George Cruikshank, among other artists, harped on how physically unnatural the pairing was, but social inequality was always the real issue. Lord Byron was among those who argued publicly that her close relationship with Pergami was adulterous, but the ensuing trial failed to provide a firm answer to the question.

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