File:Midas, transmuting all, into paper (BM 1851,0901.852).jpg

From Wikimedia Commons, the free media repository
Jump to navigation Jump to search

Original file ‎(1,894 × 2,500 pixels, file size: 1.25 MB, MIME type: image/jpeg)

Captions

Captions

Add a one-line explanation of what this file represents

Summary

[edit]
Midas, transmuting all, into paper   (Wikidata search (Cirrus search) Wikidata query (SPARQL)  Create new Wikidata item based on this file)
Artist

Print made by: James Gillray

Published by: Hannah Humphrey
Title
Midas, transmuting all, into paper
Description
English: Pitt, a colossal figure (cf. BMSat 8980), bestrides the Rotunda of the 'Bank of England'. His arms and legs are very thin, but his body is formed of a (transparent) sack distended with gold coins and inscribed '£'. His elbows are akimbo, his hands grasp the sides of the sack; from the little finger of his left hand hangs a key, 'Key of Public Property'. Round the mouth of the sack is a heavy chain clasped by a padlock inscribed 'Power of securing Public Credit'. From the sack emerges the pipe-like neck down which coins are passing. Pitt looks arrogantly to the right, a blast issues from his closed lips of many paper notes inscribed 'one'. Near his mouth are a few gold coins which he is presumably inhaling. He wears a crown formed of 'one' pound notes; through it project his ass's ears. The near side of the Rotunda is removed, showing a descending shower of paper and an ascending cluster of coins which are being drawn upwards to join those in the sack. Little figures in and around the rotunda, under Pitt's legs, hold up their hands in dismay at the shower of £1 notes. Among them is a John Bull wearing a smock. Two men hold papers inscribed 'Dividend'; a Jew walks off (left) with 'Scrip'.


On the left, behind Pitt's right foot, is the sea-shore; large reeds at its edge blow towards him; among these are five heads wearing bonnets-rouges, each with a label issuing from his mouth: 'Midas has Ears'. They are Fox, Sheridan, Erskine, M. A. Taylor, and (?) Grey. They diminish in size from Fox to Taylor. Across the sea is 'Brest', from which a fleet is setting out. Behind it are black clouds, and an explosion rises from them in which are swarms of tiny figures holding daggers and wearing bonnets-rouges. This spreads behind Pitt's head who appears unconscious of it. He looks down towards three almost naked winged figures: Grenville (left) and Dundas (right) hold up between them a scroll: 'Prosperous state of British Finances. & the new Plan for diminishing the National Debt - with Hints on the increase of Commerce'. Between and above them is Windham, Secretary-at-War, a pen behind his ear. He waves his cocked hat, Grenville his coronet, and Dundas his Scots cap. Beneath the title: 'History of Midas, - The great Midas having dedicated himself to Bacchus [cf. BMSat 8651], obtained from that Deity, the Power of changing all he Touched - Apollo fixed Asses-Ears upon his head, for his Ignorance - & although he tried to hide his disgrace with a Regal Cap, yet the very Sedges which grew from the Mud of the Pactolus, whisper'd out his Infamy, whenever they were agitated by the Wind from the opposite Shore - Vide Ovid's Metamorposes.' 9 March 1797


Hand-coloured etching
Depicted people Associated with: Henry Dundas, 1st Viscount Melville
Date 1797
date QS:P571,+1797-00-00T00:00:00Z/9
Medium paper
Dimensions
Height: 354 millimetres
Width: 250 millimetres
institution QS:P195,Q6373
Current location
Prints and Drawings
Accession number
1851,0901.852
Notes

(Description and comment from M.Dorothy George, 'Catalogue of Political and Personal Satires in the British Museum', VII, 1942) A double-edged satire on Pitt for the stoppage of gold payments, see BMSat 8990, &c, and on the Opposition as factious and Jacobinical (cf. BMSat 8691). Pitt said, 28 Feb.: 'The sudden drain . . . was unconnected with any circumstance which could infer either the deficiency of the Bank, or the unprosperous situation of the country. The rate of foreign exchanges never were more flourishing. . . .' 'Parl. Hist.' xxxii. 1543 f. Grego, 'Gillray', p. 220. Wright and Evans, No. 168. Reprinted, 'G.W.G.', 1830..

Extract from Barrie Cook's catalogue entry in S. O'Connell (ed.), "Britain meets the World: 1714-1830" (Palace Museum, Beijing, 2007):

The importance of the role of gold becomes clearest when it came under threat. During the long wars against revolutionary and Napoleonic France, a combination of government borrowing and panicky hoarding by the public brought the national gold reserves so low that in 1797 the Bank Restriction Act was passed by Parliament according to which the Bank of England stopped paying out coin for its notes and made the first large issue of £1 notes. This caused immense concern to a populace whose confidence in the monetary system depended on being able to exchange notes for gold and who deeply mistrusted these that could not be exchanged. ... Gillray makes clear the alarm and mistrust the government aroused by this measure. Here the Prime Minister, William Pitt the Younger, is shown as a reverse Midas, the figure from ancient Greek myth who turned all he touched to gold. In contrast to Midas, Pitt - by the process of digestion - is turning gold into paper and expelling it into the nation.
Source/Photographer https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/P_1851-0901-852
Permission
(Reusing this file)		 © The Trustees of the British Museum, released as CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Licensing

[edit]
This image is in the public domain because it is a mere mechanical scan or photocopy of a public domain original, or – from the available evidence – is so similar to such a scan or photocopy that no copyright protection can be expected to arise. The original itself is in the public domain for the following reason:
Public domain

This work is in the public domain in its country of origin and other countries and areas where the copyright term is the author's life plus 100 years or fewer.

This work is in the public domain in the United States because it was published (or registered with the U.S. Copyright Office) before January 1, 1929.

This file has been identified as being free of known restrictions under copyright law, including all related and neighboring rights.

This tag is designed for use where there may be a need to assert that any enhancements (eg brightness, contrast, colour-matching, sharpening) are in themselves insufficiently creative to generate a new copyright. It can be used where it is unknown whether any enhancements have been made, as well as when the enhancements are clear but insufficient. For known raw unenhanced scans you can use an appropriate {{PD-old}} tag instead. For usage, see Commons:When to use the PD-scan tag.

Note: This tag applies to scans and photocopies only. For photographs of public domain originals taken from afar, {{PD-Art}} may be applicable. See Commons:When to use the PD-Art tag.

File history

Click on a date/time to view the file as it appeared at that time.

Date/TimeThumbnailDimensionsUserComment
current13:25, 13 May 2020Thumbnail for version as of 13:25, 13 May 20201,894 × 2,500 (1.25 MB)Copyfraud (talk | contribs)British Museum public domain uploads (Copyfraud/BM) Satirical prints in the British Museum 1797 #6,912/12,043

You cannot overwrite this file.

Metadata

This file contains additional information such as Exif metadata which may have been added by the digital camera, scanner, or software program used to create or digitize it. If the file has been modified from its original state, some details such as the timestamp may not fully reflect those of the original file. The timestamp is only as accurate as the clock in the camera, and it may be completely wrong.

Retrieved from "https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Midas,_transmuting_all,_into_paper_(BM_1851,0901.852).jpg&oldid=674740273"