Dropsy courting Consumption [graphic]

An obese man and a tall lean woman, symbolical figures of 'dropsy' and 'consumption', flirting outside a mausoleum; another couple promenade before a statue of Hercules in the background

"A grotesquely obese man (his hat placed under his plump knees) kneels at the feet of an ugly and bedizened woman, fantastically lean and tall. She holds up a fan, and looks down alluringly at her lover to whom she gives her left hand. They are in the circular portico of a 'Mausoleum' (right). In the background is an avenue and a statue of Hercules, towards which a fat woman and a lean parson of the Dr. Syntax type are walking arm-in-arm. The muscular Hercules is contrasted with the four other types of physique represented."--British Museum online catalogue