One of many satires on the morganatic marriage of George IV and Mrs. Fitzherbert. on the left Mrs. Fitzherbert as Dido sits on a funeral pyre made up of phallic-shaped logs and watches the Prince of Wales sail away in a small boat whose flag is inscribed with the word 'Windsor' [Castle]. The wind which fills the ragged sail of the boat appears to be produced by a blast from the mouths of Dundas and Pitt, whose profile heads are on the extreme left. It is directed at Dido's head, and has blown off a royal crown, an orb and sceptre, and a coronet decorated with the Prince of Wales's feathers. With a tragic gesture she holds out in her right hand a mutilated crucifix. Her breast is bare and her girdle of 'Chastity' is broken. At her feet lie emblems of Popery: a sharp-toothed harrow inscribed 'For the conversion of Heretics', shackles, a pair of birch-rods, an axe, a scourge, and a rosary and crucifix. The pyre seems to be made of money-bags. The boat is the 'Honor'; the Prince is seated between Fox, who holds the tiller, and Burke, who holds the sail; his arms are folded and he looks over his shoulder at Fox, saying, "I never saw her in my Life". Fox echoes "No, never in all his Life, Damme"; Burke, wearing a Jesuit's biretta, says "Never", and North, who sits beside him, apparently asleep, says "No, never". After the title is engraved: 'Sic transit gloria Reginae' (pardoy of "Sic transit gloria mundi"). See British Museum online catalogue
Description:
Title etched below image., Attributed to Gillray in the British Museum catalogue., Sheet trimmed within plate mark., and 1 print : etching with stipple, hand-colored, on laid paper ; sheet 274 x 371 mm.
Publisher:
Pubd. May 21st, 1787, by S.W. Fores, Piccadilly, London
Subject (Name):
Virgil., George IV, King of Great Britain, 1762-1830, Fitzherbert, Maria Anne, 1756-1837, Fox, Charles James, 1749-1806, North, Frederick, Lord, 1732-1792, Burke, Edmund, 1729-1797, Pitt, William, 1759-1806, and Melville, Henry Dundas, Viscount, 1742-1811
