A woman sitting on a chair and a young man standing to her right wait in pain before they will be treated by a quack dentist, seen at their side preparing his surgical tools. This subject seems to have been popular with Domenico Tiepolo, who included it not only in his celebrated series of Scenes of Contemporary Life but also in at least three painted versions. As in many of the Contemporary Life drawings, the depiction of the crowd includes a range of caricatures. -- Exhibition Label, from "Drawn to Greatness: Master Drawings from the Thaw Collection"
Watermark: Three graduated crescents above Soto Imperiale. Watermark (transmitted infrared) crescents, moon, soto imperiale 247044wm_2017_256_WM_transmIR.tiff
Signed at upper left: "Dom. Tiepolo / f."
Watermark: Three crescents over "SOTO IMPERIAL". cf Heawood 867.
Beurdeley, Alfred, 1847-1919, former owner.
Lehman, Robin, former owner.
Gibson, Thomas, former owner.
Thaw, Eugene Victor, former owner.
Thaw, Clare, former owner.
The Morgan Library & Museum, New York, NY, "Drawn to Greatness: Master Drawings from the Thaw Collection", 2017. Exh. cat., no. 379, repr.
Stampfle, Felice, and Cara D. Denison. Drawings from the Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Eugene V. Thaw. New York : Pierpont Morgan Library, 1975, no. 61.