A peep into the cave of Jacobinism., James Gillray, 1798

A peep into the cave of Jacobinism., James Gillray, 1798

Frontispiece from vol. I of the 'review'. 'truth', fully draped, her name on her belt, hurries forward, holding up an irradiated torch which directs darts of lightning at creatures in the mouth of a cave (left). This is formed by an arch of rocks, from which 'the lethean stream' emerges. Jacobinism, a creature with scaly legs and long serpent-like tail (like 'sin' in bmsat 8105), naked except for bonnet-rouge and a belt inscribed 'egalit[é]' in which is a dagger, kneels terror-struck, shrinking from the darts of truth; he drops his pen and a mask falls from his face. His ink-bottle, inscribed 'gall', is overturned. Beside him is a heap of pamphlets, which the lightning from truth's torch has set on fire. They are 'libels', 'defamation', 'sedition', 'ignorance', 'anarchy', 'atheism', 'abuse'. Toads crawl from under them and drop into the adjacent 'lethean stream'. Owls and bats fly off into the recesses of the cave. On truth's forehead is an irradiated star; she points up with her left hand at an open book resting upon clouds: 'anti-jacobin review & mag[azine]'. Above her head fly two winged infants holding up between them a crown; one holds the cross of religion, the other the scales of justice. After the title is etched "magna est veritas et prævalebit" [the motto of the review]. 1 september 1798 hand-coloured etching. Date: 1798. Dimensions: Height: 248 mm; Width: 191 mm. Medium: paper. Collection: British Museum. A peep into the cave of Jacobinism. (BM 1851,0901.931 1)
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Author: Print made by: James Gillray Published by: John WrightSource: commons.wikimedia.org

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satirical prints in the british museumprints by james gillray in the british museumatheism (text)criticism of atheism in 18th-century artpaperbritish museumjames gillray

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