Pitt as don quixote (and petruchio) bestrides a sorry rosinante, the white horse of hanover, scarred and decrepit and apparently at the point of death. Behind him sits the king of prussia. Holland, as sancho panza, on the animal's hind-quarters, clasps prussia round the waist. The sultan, on the extreme left, crouches behind the horse, kissing its tail. Pitt, who holds a whip, points a thin mail-clad hand arrogantly at catherine of russia (right), a stout woman who has sunk in terror to her knees, but is supported by the emperor leopold and by france, a grotesquely lean frenchman of the old régime, wearing a cocked hat ornamented with fleur-de-lis. Pitt wears mambrino's helmet (the barber's basin) surmounted by a crown and a feather. He says:
""katharine, that cap of yours becomes you not;
"off with that bauble, 'tis my royal will. "
the 'cap' is a crescent in her hair, symbolizing her conquests from turkey and, more especially, oczakoff, the place in dispute. Pitt's horse (george iii), says, weeping, "heigho! to have myself thus rid to death, by a boy & his playmates, merely to frighten an old woman - i wish i was back in hanover to get myself a belly full". A holster on the animal's neck is inscribed 'g. R', but the 'g' has been struck out and replaced by 'p' (to indicate that pitt has usurped the prerogative of the crown, cf. Bmsat 7479, &c). The king of prussia, with his chin on pitt's shoulder, glares fiercely; he holds a drawn sabre and says, "blood & dunder, i would give her one good prussian stroking". Sancho panza, a fat dutchman, says, "i'm in a good humour to give her a dram of right holland's". The crouching turk cries obsequiously, "amman! amman! anglois, alia, alia". Catherine is terrified, she turns away from pitt exclaiming:
""i see my lances are but straws;
"my strength is weak, my weakness past compare;
"and am asham'd, that women are so simple
"to offer war when they should kneel for peace. "
france says, "o, by gar! if mirabeau was but 'live! sacre dieu. " the emperor, who is crowned, and wears a cloak on which is the habsburg eagle, says, "das is de devil, to give up all again". Beside catherine is a sword tying across a plan of a fortress, oczakow. 20 april 1791
etching. Date: 1791. Dimensions: Height: 250 mm; Width: 405 mm. Medium: paper. Depicted People: Catherine II, Empress of Russia. Collection: British Museum. Taming of the shrew-Katharine & Petruchio- the modern Quixotte, or what you will. (BM 1851,0901.519)
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