Sin, Death and the Devil vide Milton. [graphic]
Found In:
Lewis Walpole Library > Sin, Death and the Devil vide Milton. [graphic]
Description
- Title
- Sin, Death and the Devil vide Milton. [graphic]
- Creator
- Gillray, James, 1756-1815, printmaker
- Contributor
- Humphrey, Hannah, active 1774-1817, publisher.
- Published / Created
- [9 June 1792]
- Publication Place
- London
- Publisher
- Pubd. June 9th, 1792, by H. Humphrey, No. 18 Old Bond Street
- Abstract
-
"A satire on the struggle between Pitt and Thurlow travestied as a scene from 'Paradise Lost'. Pitt (left) is Death, wearing the king's crown and using a long sceptre as a weapon. Thurlow (right) is Satan; he raises the (breaking) mace to smite, and holds out an oval shield decorated with the bag of the Great Seal and a tiny woolsack. The Queen, as Sin, naked, with snaky locks (Medusa-like), and two writhing serpents for legs, interposes with outstretched arms, looking with terrified face at Thurlow in her desire to protect Pitt. She is a hideous hag with pendent breasts; from her snaky hair hangs a large key inscribed 'The Instrument of all our Woe', and evidently symbolizing Secret Influence ... Pitt's naked body is emaciated and corpse-like; from his shoulders hangs a long ermine-trimmed cloak; his sceptre radiates darts of lightning. His face expresses alarm and determination. Behind him, and guarding the gate of Hell which is indicated by a stone arch, is Cerberus, with the profile heads of Dundas, Grenville, and Richmond, looking up at Thurlow; their body terminates in a large serpent with a barbed tail. Thurlow has wings, and is naked except for a quasi-Roman kilt. He wears his Chancellor's wig, his profile and eyebrow are of a terrifying fierceness; serpents twine round his shield, and spit fire at Pitt and the Queen; a serpent entwined in Pitt's crown, and others in the Queen's snaky locks, retaliate. On the right are the flames of Hell in which demons are flying; smoke fills the background. Beneath the design is etched: 'NB: The above performance containing Portraits of the Devil & his Relatives, drawn from the Life, is recommended to Messrs Boydell, Fuselli & the rest of the Proprietors of the Three Hundred & Sixty Five Editions of Milton now publishing, as necessary to be adopted, in their classick Embellishments.'"-- British Museum online catalogue
- Description
-
Title etched below image.
Printmaker from British Museum catalogue.
Six columns of verse from Milton's Paradise Lost, four above the image and two below: "... black it stood as night, Fierce as ten Furies, terrible as hell, And shook a dreadfull dart: what seemd his head, The likeness of a Kingly crown had on;' ... "Had not the Snaky-Sorceress that sat, "Fast by hell-gate, and kept the fatal Key, "Ris'n, and with hideous outcry rushd between.'"
One line of text in bottom of design: NB: The above performance containing portraits of the Devil & his relatives ...
Mounted to 36 x 49 cm. - Provenance
- Alfred Bowditch Collection; December 1966;
- Extent
- 1 print : plate mark 32.1 x 40.4 cm, on sheet 36 x 48 cm
- Language
-
English
Collection Information
- Repository
- Lewis Walpole Library
- Call Number
- 792.06.09.01+ Impression 1
Subjects, Formats, And Genres
- Genre
-
Caricatures and cartoons
Satires (Visual works) England 1792
Etchings England London 1792 - Material
- etching ; and wove paper hand-colored.
- Resource Type
- still image
- Subject (Name)
-
Shakspeare Gallery.
Charlotte, consort of George III, King of Great Britain, 1744-1818
Pitt, William, 1759-1806
Thurlow, Edward Thurlow, Baron, 1731-1806
Melville, Henry Dundas, Viscount, 1742-1811
Grenville, William Wyndham Grenville, Baron, 1759-1834
Richmond and Lennox, Charles Lennox, Duke of, 1735-1806 - Subject (Topic)
-
Cerberus (Greek mythology)
Medusa (Greek mythology)
Serpents - Subjects
-
Shakspeare Gallery
Charlotte, consort of George III, King of Great Britain, 1744-1818 > Caricatures and cartoons
Pitt, William, 1759-1806 > Caricatures and cartoons
Thurlow, Edward Thurlow, Baron, 1731-1806 > Caricatures and cartoons
Melville, Henry Dundas, Viscount, 1742-1811 > Caricatures and cartoons
Grenville, William Wyndham Grenville, Baron, 1759-1834 > Caricatures and cartoons
Richmond and Lennox, Charles Lennox, Duke of, 1735-1806 > Caricatures and cartoons
Cerberus (Greek mythology) > Caricatures and cartoons
Medusa (Greek mythology) > Caricatures and cartoons
Serpents
England > 1792
England > London > 1792
Riviere & Son > Binding
Auchincloss, Hugh Dudley > Ownership
Harvey, Francis > Ownership
Access And Usage Rights
- Access
- Public
- Rights
- The use of this image may be subject to the copyright law of the United States (Title 17, United States Code) or to site license or other rights management terms and conditions. The person using the image is liable for any infringement.
Identifiers
- Orbis Record
- 7817384
- Object ID (OID)
- 10732802