Mevrouw Bellaston schrikt van Thomas Jones 1749

Jan Punt made this engraving, Mevrouw Bellaston schrikt van Thomas Jones, sometime in the 1700s. Punt was a Dutch artist working at a time when the Netherlands was a republic, and prints like this helped disseminate a specific visual culture. Here, we see an interior scene, likely a bedroom, with an ornately dressed woman recoiling in surprise as a man enters. Her pose suggests a transgression. The scene is taken from Henry Fielding’s novel *Tom Jones*, and illustrates a moment when Mrs. Bellaston is caught in a compromising situation. Engravings such as this one, were often made as illustrations for books, helping to shape public opinion about behavior and social roles. They are fascinating sources for social historians because they tell us what was considered acceptable and unacceptable at the time. Investigating sources such as conduct manuals, letters, diaries, and other visual art from the period can give us further insight into the complex social and institutional forces in play at the time.