Image: A-voluptuary

Description: A voluptuary under the horrors of digestion Js. Gy. design et fecit. SUMMARY: Caricature of George IV as the Prince of Wales, languid with repletion, leaning back in an arm-chair, at a table covered with remains of a meal, holding a fork to his mouth. His waistcoat is held together by a single button across his distended stomach. In the background, the Prince of Wales' three ostrich feathers emblem is shown above a knife and fork crossed on a plate (instead of a coat of arms). The picture behind and above the Prince's head is of Luigi Cornaro, a Venetian nobleman who wrote several treatises concerning dieting and eating habits. MEDIUM: 1 print : engraving, color. CREATED/PUBLISHED: [London] : Pubd. by H. Humphrey, 1792 July 2d. According to Wright & Evans, Historical and Descriptive Account of the Caricatures of James Gillray (1851, OCLC 59510372), p. 47, "A bitter satire on the Heir to the Throne, who was at this time celebrated for his voluptuousness, and for the pecuniary difficulties in which he was constantly involved, in consequence of his expensive habits. The picture is full of allusions, which tell their own story."
Title: A-voluptuary
Credit: Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, LC-USZC4-3142 (color film copy transparency), uncompressed archival TIFF version (4 MB), level color (pick white and black points), cropped, and converted to JPEG (quality level 88) with the GIMP 2.4.5.
Author: James Gillray
Permission: No known restriction on publication.
Usage Terms: Public domain
License: Public domain
Attribution Required?: No