mardi 20 janvier 2015

James Gillray - The Taming of the shrew,1791

James Gillray 1756/1757-1815


The Taming of the shrew
 ( la mégèere apprivoisée  1594 - Shakespeare 1564- 1616)
Cartoon shows Catherine II, faint and shying away from William Pitt, who appears as Petruchio, and Don Quixote on horseback (a lean and scarred George III whose authority has been usurped by Pitt), seated behind Pitt are the King of Prussia and a figure representing Holland as Sancho Panza, Selim III kneels to kiss the horse's tail; a gaunt figure representing the old order in France and Leopold II render assistence to Catherine by preventing her from falling to the ground.

According to Wright & Evans, Historical and Descriptive Account of the Caricatures of James Gillray (1851) p. 33, "On the attempted intermediation of Great Britain, backed by Prussia and Holland, between Russia and Turkey, in the spring of 1791. Austria and France are giving encouragement to the Empress Catharine. Turkey, which was suffering severely, takes shelter behind Pitt and his supporters, who have ridden rather roughly the Hanoverian horse."

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