An emblematic scene with an oval portrait of Samuel Butler (looking left) mounted on a pedestal on which is carved a relief showing a satyr whipping figures of Rebellion, Hypocrisy, and Ignorance dressed as puritans, while he drives a chariot drawn by Hudibras and Ralpho; in the foreground, on the rightt, a satyr holds up a volume of Butler's poem as a guide for the carver (a boy dressed only in an apron), and on the left a young satyr holds up a mirror to a figure of Britannia
Alternative Title:
Hudibras frontispiece and explanation
Description:
Title engraved below image., After Hogarth., Caption on either side of title: "The basso releivo, on the pedestal, represents the general design, of Mr. Butler, in his incomparable poem, of Hudibras. Viz. Butler's genious in a car lashing around Mount Parnassus in the persons of Hudibras & Ralpho, Rebellion, Hypocrisy and Ignorance the reigning vices of his time.", Copy in reverse of no. 504 in the Catalogue of prints and drawings in the British Museum. Division I, political and personal satires, v. 1., and See Paulson, R. Hogarth's graphic works (3rd ed.), no. 82.
Publisher:
publisher not identified
Subject (Geographic):
England. and Great Britain
Subject (Name):
Butler, Samuel, 1612-1680, and Butler, Samuel, 1612-1680.
Subject (Topic):
Puritans, History, Britannia (Symbolic character), Religion, Satyrs (Greek mythology), Parnassus, Mount (Greece), Tombs & sepulchral monuments, and Vice
