Sic itur ad Astra Scilicet (This is the way to heaven, of course), Romeyn de Hooghe, 1688

Satire on father petre who presides at a banquet with catholic clergy attended by female representations of the seven deadly sins. On the left, pride, with peacock crown, holding a whip and with her foot on a yoke, leans on the shoulder of father petre who returns her gaze as he removes a mask from his face; his right elbow rests on bags of money and his right foot on a bible. To petre's left stands the snake-haired figure of envy holding a flaming torch in her left hand and with her right holding a heart to her mouth. Next, a fat dominican friar rests his hand on the shoulder of the large figure of gluttony who offers him a dish containing a suckling pig; in front of her is the centrepiece of the table, a magnificent peacock pie, decorated with the monogram "ihs" and crossed keys of st peter, surrounded by joints of meat and rolls of bread. A capuchin squeezes a lemon on to a capon, while behind him the figure of anger, accompanied by a snarling dog, raises a cudgel as she closes the door against a protestant pastor who gestures in astonishment. A monk, a crutch at his side, turns to admire the naked figure of lust, sitting astride a bed, who looks back at him; behind her two devils use bellows to fan a burning globe or orb. The figure of sloth sleeps on the bed, supported by pillows. In the foreground, the elderly bespctacled figure of avarice, bags of money in her lap, leans on a chest guarded by a dog; she reads an account, at the same time fingering coins that spill out of bags at her feet; the bags are lettered "purgatorium" and "missae" indicating that they were the product of the sale of indulgences and masses; a list of further sources of income rests on a papal tiara. In the foreground, with his back to the viewer, is a franciscan with a goblet in one hand, a pitcher in the other and empty wine bottles on the floor beside him; he sits on an elaborate commode bearing a bacchic relief. In the background, through a window, is seen a bishop in procession; on the wall behind the table hangs a tapestry with four scenes, a monkey and a cat (?) in clerical dress adminster the last sacrament to a dying man while a priest carries off a bag of money; st francis of assisi preaches to the fishes; a wolf in a confessional listens to a woman, while a monk caresses a bare-breasted nun; a fox in a pulpit, a goose hanging down his back, preaches to a congregation largely composed of women; on the right hand side, above an elaborate fireplace, hangs a picture of jesuits on a sea shore amassing treasures of the east; on either side is a chinese vase with flowers. 1688 etching. Date: 1688. Dimensions: Height: 310 mm; ; Width: 424 mm. Medium: paper. Depicted People: Father Edward Petre. Collection: British Museum. Sic itur ad Astra Scilicet (This is the way to heaven, of course) (BM Y,1.79 1)