
1902–1912
This drawing, reproduced in the 1908 edition of the English writer Laurence Sterne’s novel The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman, highlights Corinth’s use of satire to comment on both religion and human folly. Here, the title character, who was mistakenly baptized with the name Tristram, wishes to see if it can be changed. Just as the debate begins, a hot chestnut falls into the lap of the man in profile on the right. His mouth opens in pain, as his right hand grips the back of his chair, with a slapstick humor that seems to emulate the work of the English artist William Hogarth.