The Earl of Bute as a Colossus wearing a tartan scarf about his shoulders stands on two stone pedestals before the tower to St James's Palace as William Pitt the Elder, leaning on a crutch, pleads with him from below. Engraving, 1767.

Date:
[June 1767]
Reference:
582583i
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Description

On the Earl of Bute's continued influence over the King and thereby politics despite his no longer holding office. The two pedestals that Bute stands on represent 'lust' in the form of a goat and 'fraud' in the form of a serpent. In Bute's hand are a scroll and three labels on which are written 'pensions', 'places', and 'reversions'. Further groups of men below Bute represent his political allies on the right, among them Earl Temple, and his enemies on the right. Pitt the Elder is shown leaning on a crutch, a reference both to his gout and to his weaker political position

Publication/Creation

[Place of publication not identified] : [publisher not identified], [June 1767]

Physical description

1 print : engraving ; platemark 19 x 12 cm

Lettering

The colossus. The verse below reads: 'Why man he doth bestride this narrow world / Like a Colossus; and we petty ministers / walk under his huge legs, and peep about / To find ourselves posts, peerages and pensions. Shakespeare': quotation from Julius Caesar, Act I, scene 2

References note

British Museum, Catalogue of political and personal satires, Vol.IV, London 1978, no. 4178

Reference

Wellcome Collection 582583i

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