A watercolour by Robert Smirke depicting a man being brought in by boat apparently drowned, his wife and family grieving on the shore. A later engraving of this scene by Robert Pollard was dedicated to the Royal Humane Society in 1787.
Featured on PDR in the essay The Science of Life and Death in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein
Professor Sharon Ruston surveys the scientific background to Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, considering contemporary investigations into resuscitation, galvanism, and the possibility of states between life and death.
Also appearing in the essay…
Other works by the artist in the archive…
A Man Being Brought in by Boat Apparently Drowned
Artist
Date
1787
