page_title: The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman
section_title: Techniques and influences
hierarchical_section_title: The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman / Techniques and influences
caption_attribution_description: This painting shows two of the characters in Sterne's 'Tristram Shandy', Uncle Toby and the Widow Wadman. Inscribed on the stretcher is the note: 'This was a sketch only but C. R. Leslie finished it for me in May 1848'. It is believed that the model for Uncle Toby was the actor Jack Bannister (1760–1836) a great friend of Leslie’s. This was Leslie’s most famous composition which he painted several times. For the Victorians the image became an instantly recognisable symbol of flirtatiousness. The situation represented is that of Widow Wadman inviting Uncle Toby to help her remove an object from her eye. Uncle Toby is mesmerised by the proximity of the Widow’s beauty which causes the old soldier to fall head-over-heels in love with her. The image was used as a design for Pratt Potlids in advertising. There are larger versions of this painting in both the V&amp;A and Tate but evidence on the stretcher suggests that this painting was made from the original drawing.
context_page_description: The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman, also known as just Tristram Shandy, is a novel by Laurence Sterne. It was published in nine volumes, the first two appearing in 1759, and seven others following over the next seven years. It purports to be a biography of the eponymous character. Its style is marked by digression, double entendre, and graphic devices.
  Sterne had read widely, which is reflected in Tristram Shandy. Many of his similes, for instance, are reminiscent of the works of the metaphysical poets of the 17th century, and the novel as a whole, with its focus on the problems of language, has constant regard for John Locke's theories in An Essay Concerning Human Understanding. Arthur Schopenhauer called Tristram Shandy one of "the four immortal romances."
caption: Uncle Toby and Widow Wadman by Charles Robert Leslie
exif: {"Image Make": "NIKON CORPORATION", "Image Model": "NIKON D70", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "72", "Image YResolution": "72", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "Adobe Photoshop CS Macintosh", "Image DateTime": "2006:08:08 16:52:57", "Image ExifOffset": "216", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "974", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "5642", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/400", "EXIF FNumber": "8", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Manual", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0221", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2006:03:10 11:48:05", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2006:03:10 11:48:05", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF CompressedBitsPerPixel": "4", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MaxApertureValue": "43/10", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Pattern", "EXIF LightSource": "Unknown", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire", "EXIF FocalLength": "56", "EXIF SubSecTime": "80", "EXIF SubSecTimeOriginal": "80", "EXIF SubSecTimeDigitized": "80", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "Uncalibrated", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "779", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "1134", "Interoperability InteroperabilityIndex": "R03", "Interoperability InteroperabilityVersion": "[48, 49, 48, 48]", "EXIF InteroperabilityOffset": "848", "EXIF SensingMethod": "One-chip color area", "EXIF FileSource": "Digital Camera", "EXIF SceneType": "Directly Photographed", "EXIF CVAPattern": "[0, 2, 0, 2, 2, 1, 1, 0]", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Normal", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Manual Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Auto", "EXIF DigitalZoomRatio": "1", "EXIF FocalLengthIn35mmFilm": "84", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard", "EXIF GainControl": "None", "EXIF Contrast": "Normal", "EXIF Saturation": "Normal", "EXIF Sharpness": "Normal", "EXIF SubjectDistanceRange": "0", "EXIF Gamma": "11/5"}