Art Institute of Chicago
Britannia Between Scylla and Charybdis
James Gillray (English, 1756-1815)LinkedCulture matchlcp-a63a9c259445
- Date
- published April 8, 1793
- Medium
- Etching in dark brown, with handcoloring, on cream wove paper
- Culture
- England
- Department
- Prints and Drawings
- Institution
- Art Institute of Chicago
- Object ID
- 90242
The prolific James Gillray often included Classical nautical references in his contemporary political satires. Around the time of the French Revolution, Gillray depicted the British prime minister William Pitt as the wandering Odysseus, who pilots a small vessel holding the buxom Britannia through a dangerous strait toward the “Haven of Public Happiness.” Pitt attempts to steer between two conflicting forms of government: a whirlpool (Charybdis) on the right, symbolizing the crown and absolute monarchy, and a perilous rock with lurking monster (Scylla) on the left, representing democracy.
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Provenance & credit
As published by the source institution. Coverage varies — not every institution's open-data feed includes ownership history.
- Credit line
- Gift of Thomas F. Furness in memory of William McCallin McKee
Linked open data
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- Object type
- AAT300041273
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