‘The Head ache’, engraved by George Cruikshank, 1819

Description

Hand coloured etching, entitled ‘The Head ache’, designed by Capt. Frederick Marryat, engraved by George Cruikshank, and published by G. Humphrey in 1819.

‘The Headache’ shows a man slumped in an armchair by the fire, holding a medicine bottle. Grimacing in pain and despair, with upturned eyes, he is tormented by six little demons who attack his head with a red-hot poker, auger drill, bit, mallet and wedge. One demon sings loudly from a music-book in one ear, while another blows a trumpet in his other. Here the demons are personified metaphors for the pain that the patient is suffering from.
The devil, demons and other imaginary figures were a familiar device used by artists, notably George Cruikshank, where the patient’s condition is highlighted by these imaginary figures who torment them.