Browning [Robert Browning]
1873
![Browning [Robert Browning] by Frederick Waddy, 1873](https://www.thequadro.com/api/storage/artworks/thumb/l/frederick-waddy/frederick-waddy_browning-robert-browning_960585f6)
Frederick Waddy’s 1873 caricature playfully transforms the Victorian poet Robert Browning into the very character he made famous: the Pied Piper of Hamelin. With his signature bushy beard and a long, sweeping coat, Browning is shown holding a flute, ready to charm 'all creatures living beneath the sun,' as the accompanying verse from his poem declares. It’s a witty visual pun, suggesting the poet himself had the magical power to draw readers in with his words, just like the Piper led the rats and children away. Browning actually wrote that famous poem for the sick son of an actor friend, making this depiction of him as a magical charmer even more fitting.
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