Rowlandson's drawing is a satire on the Romantic image of the artist answering his vocation and shunning worldly concerns. The Genius is seated at the end of a makeshift bed, so focused on his painting that he fails to notice the chamber pot that he has upset or the cat clawing his legs. The artist's indolent wife sleeps while their children pour wine and work the bellows, at risk from the hot kettle and poker.

No. 78