A delightful hand-colored etching by Rowlandson, one of the best-known and sought-after eighteenth-century caricaturists. The scene depicts a group of poor Italians apparently rehearsing for an opera. Moving from left to right: a young boy plays the violin in nothing but a shirt; a man with breeches but no stockings plays a legless piano with a bowl marked Macaroni at his feet; a young man stands singing with his hands clutched to his chest; an elderly man with glasses and cap plays a double bass, a woman sits before a sheet of music while folding laundry with an infant on her lap and a howling dog at her side.

On the left wall hangs a playbill for Paisiello's opera L'Avaro Deluso and in the foreground a violin and various music books lie strewn across the floor.