Balaam, or the majesty of the people

Balaam, or the majesty of the people

Item Information

Title:
Balaam, or the majesty of the people
Title (alt.):
Balaam, or the majesty of the people. The Lord open'd the mouth of the ass, &c.
Description:
Design in an oval. A satire on tithes and the clergy. A tall, thin military officer, wearing a hat, gorget, and sword, carries on his shoulders an enormously fat parson dressed in gown and bands. The officer walks from left to right, his head in profile to the right. The parson, with a complacent expression, holds over his right shoulder a scourge with three lashes, one ending in a snake's head, the second is "English Statutes," the third, ending in beads and a cross. Under his left arm he holds a basket. In it are visible chickens and a sucking-pig. Behind the parson walks a dejected-looking farmer in a smock-frock, holding his hat in one hand, a branch in the other. Behind the farmer (left) are sheaves of corn, in one of which is a branch similar to that which he holds. The landscape background is mountainous (BM).
Artist:
Gillray, James, 1756-1815
Date:
April 10, 1783
Format:
Prints
Genre:
Etchings
Caricatures
Satires (Visual works)
Location:
Boston Public Library
Arts Department
Collection (local):
James Gillray (1756-1815). Prints and Drawings
Subjects:
Farmers
Military officers
Clergy
Tithes
Anglican churches
Lifting & carrying
Places:
England
Extent:
1 print : etching ; sheet 25 x 35 cm
Permalink:
https://ark.digitalcommonwealth.org/ark:/50959/2z111j25k
Terms of Use:
No known copyright restrictions.
No known restrictions on use.
Publisher:
N. 227 Strand : Pubd. by W. Humphrey
Language:
English
Notes:
Title from item.
Alternative title from materials accompanying item.
BM Satires 6209
Additional information accompanying item: One of many satires on the clergy and on tithes, this one attacking the Anglican Church as popish in a way reminiscent of the seventeenth century.
Notes (date):
Date from item.
Notes (citation):
Stephens, Frederic George, George, Mary Dorothy. "Catalogue of Political and Personal Satires in the Department of Prints and Drawings in the British Museum." British Museum Press, 1870, London.
Identifier:
18_17_000012
Barcode:
36666003786833