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Please consult the Transcriber's Note at the end of this text for
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A HISTORY
OF
CARICATURE AND GROTESQUE.
[Illustration: _ARISTOTLE AND PYTHAÏS._
_From an Engraving by Burgmair_ (_15th cent._)]
A HISTORY
OF
CARICATURE AND GROTESQUE
In Literature and Art.
BY THOMAS WRIGHT, M.A., F.S.A.
[Illustration]
THE ILLUSTRATIONS DRAWN AND ENGRAVED BY
F. W. FAIRHOLT, F.S.A.
London:
CHATTO AND WINDUS, PICCADILLY.
1875.
LONDON:
SAVILL, EDWARDS, AND CO., PRINTERS, CHANDOS STREET,
COVENT GARDEN.
[Illustration]
PREFACE.
I have felt some difficulty in selecting a title for the contents of
the following pages, in which it was, in fact, my design to give, as
far as may be done within such moderate limits, and in as popular a
manner as such information can easily be imparted, a general view of
the History of Comic Literature and Art. Yet the word comic seems to
me hardly to express all the parts of the subject which I have sought
to bring together in my book. Moreover, the field of this history is
very large, and, though I have only taken as my theme one part of it,
it was necessary to circumscribe even that, in some degree; and my
plan, therefore, is to follow it chiefly through those branches which
have contributed most towards the formation of modern comic and satiric
literature and art in our own island.
Thus, as the comic literature of the middle ages to a very great
extent, and comic art in a considerable degree also, were founded
upon, or rather arose out of, those of the Romans which had preceded
them, it seemed desirable to give a comprehensive history of this
branch of literature and art as it was cultivated among the peoples of
antiquity. Literature and art in the middle ages presented a certain
unity of general character, arising, probably, from the uniformity of
the influence of the Roman element of society, modified only by its
lower degree of intensity at a greater distance from the centre, and
by secondary causes attendant upon it. To understand the literature
of any one country in Western Europe, especially during what we may
term the feudal period--and the remark applies to art equally--it
is necessary to make ourselves acquainted with the whole history of
literature in Western Europe during that time. The peculiarities in
different countries naturally became more marked in the progress of
society, and more strongly individualised; but it was not till towards
the close of the feudal period that the literature of each of these
different countries was becoming more entirely its own. At that period
the plan I have formed restricts itself, according to the view stated
above. Thus, the satirical literature of the Reformation and pictorial
caricature had their cradle in Germany, and, in the earlier half of
the sixteenth century, carried their influence largely into France and
England; but from that time any influence of German literature on these
two countries ceases. Modern satirical literature has its models in
France during the sixteenth century, and the direct influence of this
literature in France upon English literature continued during that and
the succeeding century, but no further. Political caricature rose to
importance in France in the sixteenth century, and was transplanted
to Holland in the seventeenth century, and until the beginning of the
eighteenth century England owed its caricature, indirectly or directly,
to the French and the Dutch; but after that time a purely English
school of caricature was formed, which was entirely independent of
Continental caricaturists.
There are two senses in which the word history may be taken in regard
to literature and art. It has been usually employed to signify a
chronological account of authors or artists and their works, though
this comes more properly under the title of biography and bibliography.
But there is another and a very different application of the word, and
this is the meaning which I attach to it in the present volume. During
the middle ages, and for some period after (in special branches),
literature--I mean poetry, satire, and popular literature of all
kinds--belonged to society, and not to the individual authors, who
were but workmen who gained a living by satisfying society's wants;
and its changes in form or character depended all upon the varying
progress, and therefore changing necessities, of society itself. This
is the reason why, especially in the earlier periods, nearly the whole
mass of the popular--I may, perhaps, be allowed to call it the social
literature of the middle ages, is anonymous; and it was only at rare
intervals that some individual rose and made himself a great name by
the superiority of his talents. A certain number of writers of fabliaux
put their names to their compositions, probably because they were names
of writers who had gained the reputation of telling better or racier
stories than many of their fellows. In some branches of literature--as
in the satirical literature of the sixteenth century--society still
exercised this kind of influence over it; and although its great
monuments owe everything to the peculiar genius of their authors, they
were produced under the pressure of social circumstances. To trace all
these variations in literature connected with society, to describe the
influences of society upon literature and of literature upon society,
during the progress of the latter, appears to me to be the true meaning
of the word history, and it is in this sense that I take it.
This will explain why my history of the different branches of popular
literature and art ends at very different periods. The grotesque and
satirical sculpture, which adorned the ecclesiastical buildings,
ceased with the middle ages. The story-books, as a part of this social
literature, came down to the sixteenth century, and the history of
the jest-books which arose out of them cannot be considered to extend
further than the beginning of the seventeenth; for, to give a list of
jest-books since that time would be to compile a catalogue of books
made by booksellers for sale, copied from one another, and, till
recently, each more contemptible than its predecessor. The school of
satirical literature in France, at all events as far as it had any
influence in England, lasted no longer than the earlier part of the
seventeenth century. England can hardly be said to have had a school of
satirical literature, with the exception of its comedy, which belongs
properly to the seventeenth century; and its caricature belongs
especially to the last century and to the earlier part of the present,
beyond which it is not a part of my plan to carry it.
These few remarks will perhaps serve to explain what some may consider
to be defects in my book; and with them I venture to trust it to the
indulgence of its readers. It is a subject which will have some novelty
for the English reader, for I am not aware that we have any previous
book devoted to it. At all events, it is not a mere compilation from
other people's labours.
THOMAS WRIGHT.
[Illustration]
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER I.
PAGE
ORIGIN OF CARICATURE AND GROTESQUE--SPIRIT OF CARICATURE
IN EGYPT--MONSTERS: PYTHON AND GORGON--GREECE--THE
DIONYSIAC CEREMONIES, AND ORIGIN OF THE DRAMA--THE OLD
COMEDY--LOVE OF PARODY--PARODIES ON SUBJECTS TAKEN
FROM GRECIAN MYTHOLOGY: THE VISIT TO THE LOVER; APOLLO
AT DELPHI--THE PARTIALITY FOR PARODY CONTINUED AMONG
THE ROMANS: THE FLIGHT OF ÆNEAS 1
CHAPTER II.
ORIGIN OF THE STAGE IN ROME--USES OF THE MASK
AMONG THE ROMANS--SCENES FROM ROMAN COMEDY--THE
SANNIO AND MIMUS--THE ROMAN DRAMA--THE ROMAN
SATIRISTS--CARICATURE--ANIMALS INTRODUCED IN THE
CHARACTERS OF MEN--THE PIGMIES, AND THEIR INTRODUCTION
INTO CARICATURE; THE FARM-YARD; THE PAINTER'S STUDIO;
THE PROCESSION--POLITICAL CARICATURE IN POMPEII; THE
GRAFFITI 23
CHAPTER III.
THE PERIOD OF TRANSITION FROM ANTIQUITY TO THE MIDDLE
AGES--THE ROMAN MIMI CONTINUED TO EXIST--THE TEUTONIC
AFTER-DINNER ENTERTAINMENTS--CLERICAL SATIRES:
ARCHBISHOP HERIGER AND THE DREAMER; THE SUPPER OF THE
SAINTS--TRANSITION FROM ANCIENT TO MEDIÆVAL ART--TASTE
FOR MONSTROUS ANIMALS, DRAGONS, ETC.; CHURCH OF SAN
FEDELE, AT COMO--SPIRIT OF CARICATURE AND LOVE OF
GROTESQUE AMONG THE ANGLO-SAXONS--GROTESQUE FIGURES OF
DEMONS--NATURAL TENDENCY OF THE EARLY MEDIÆVAL ARTISTS
TO DRAW IN CARICATURE--EXAMPLES FROM EARLY MANUSCRIPTS
AND SCULPTURES 40
CHAPTER IV.
THE DIABOLICAL IN CARICATURE--MEDIÆVAL LOVE OF THE
LUDICROUS--CAUSES WHICH MADE IT INFLUENCE THE NOTIONS
OF DEMONS--STORIES OF THE PIOUS PAINTER AND THE ERRING
MONK--DARKNESS AND UGLINESS CARICATURED--THE DEMONS IN
THE MIRACLE PLAYS--THE DEMON OF NOTRE DAME 61
CHAPTER V.
EMPLOYMENT OF ANIMALS IN MEDIÆVAL SATIRE--POPULARITY
OF FABLES; ODO DE CIRINGTON--REYNARD THE
FOX--BURNELLUS AND FAUVEL--THE CHARIVARI--LE MONDE
BESTORNÉ--ENCAUSTIC TILES--SHOEING THE GOOSE, AND
FEEDING PIGS WITH ROSES--SATIRICAL SIGNS; THE MUSTARD
MAKER 75
CHAPTER VI.
THE MONKEY IN BURLESQUE AND CARICATURE--TOURNAMENTS
AND SINGLE COMBATS--MONSTROUS COMBINATIONS OF
ANIMAL FORMS--CARICATURES ON COSTUME--THE HAT--THE
HELMET--LADIES' HEAD-DRESSES--THE GOWN, AND ITS LONG
SLEEVES 95
CHAPTER VII.
PRESERVATION OF THE CHARACTER OF THE MIMUS AFTER THE FALL
OF THE EMPIRE--THE MINSTREL AND JOGELOUR--HISTORY OF
POPULAR STORIES--THE FABLIAUX--ACCOUNT OF THEM--THE
CONTES DEVOTS 106
CHAPTER VIII.
CARICATURES OF DOMESTIC LIFE--STATE OF DOMESTIC LIFE
IN THE MIDDLE AGES--EXAMPLES OF DOMESTIC CARICATURE
FROM THE CARVINGS OF THE MISERERES--KITCHEN
SCENES--DOMESTIC BRAWLS--THE FIGHT FOR THE
BREECHES--THE JUDICIAL DUEL BETWEEN MAN AND WIFE AMONG
THE GERMANS--ALLUSIONS TO WITCHCRAFT--SATIRES ON THE
TRADES: THE BAKER, THE MILLER, THE WINE-PEDLAR AND
TAVERN KEEPER, THE ALE-WIFE, ETC. 118
CHAPTER IX.
GROTESQUE FACES AND FIGURES--PREVALENCE OF THE TASTE FOR
UGLY AND GROTESQUE FACES--SOME OF THE POPULAR FORMS
DERIVED FROM ANTIQUITY: THE TONGUE LOLLING OUT, AND
THE DISTORTED MOUTH--HORRIBLE SUBJECTS: THE MAN
AND THE SERPENTS--ALLEGORICAL FIGURES: GLUTTONY AND
LUXURY--OTHER REPRESENTATIONS OF CLERICAL GLUTTONY
AND DRUNKENNESS--GROTESQUE FIGURES OF INDIVIDUALS,
AND GROTESQUE GROUPS--ORNAMENTS OF THE BORDERS OF
BOOKS--UNINTENTIONAL CARICATURE; THE MOTE AND THE BEAM 144
CHAPTER X.
SATIRICAL LITERATURE IN THE MIDDLE AGES--JOHN
DE HAUTEVILLE AND ALAN DE LILLE--GOLIAS AND
THE GOLIARDS--THE GOLIARDIC POETRY--TASTE FOR
PARODY--PARODIES ON RELIGIOUS SUBJECTS--POLITICAL
CARICATURE IN THE MIDDLE AGES--THE JEWS OF
NORWICH--CARICATURE REPRESENTATIONS OF
COUNTRIES--LOCAL SATIRE--POLITICAL SONGS AND POEMS 159
CHAPTER XI.
MINSTRELSY A SUBJECT OF BURLESQUE AND
CARICATURE--CHARACTER OF THE MINSTRELS--THEIR JOKES
UPON THEMSELVES AND UPON ONE ANOTHER--VARIOUS
MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS REPRESENTED IN THE SCULPTURES
OF THE MEDIÆVAL ARTISTS--SIR MATTHEW GOURNAY AND
THE KING OF PORTUGAL--DISCREDIT OF THE TABOR AND
BAGPIPES--MERMAIDS 188
CHAPTER XII.
THE COURT FOOL--THE NORMANS AND THEIR GABS--EARLY
HISTORY OF COURT FOOLS--THEIR COSTUME--CARVINGS IN
THE CORNISH CHURCHES--THE BURLESQUE SOCIETIES OF THE
MIDDLE AGES--THE FEASTS OF ASSES, AND OF FOOLS--THEIR
LICENCE--THE LEADEN MONEY OF THE FOOLS--THE BISHOP'S
BLESSING 200
CHAPTER XIII.
THE DANCE OF DEATH--THE PAINTINGS IN THE CHURCH OF
LA CHAISE DIEU--THE REIGN OF FOLLY--SEBASTIAN
BRANDT; THE SHIP OF FOOLS--DISTURBERS OF
CHURCH SERVICE--TROUBLESOME BEGGARS--GEILER'S
SERMONS--BADIUS, AND HIS SHIP OF FOOLISH WOMEN--THE
PLEASURES OF SMELL--ERASMUS; THE PRAISE OF FOLLY 214
CHAPTER XIV.
POPULAR LITERATURE AND ITS HEROES; BROTHER RUSH, TYLL
EULENSPIEGEL, THE WISE MEN OF GOTHAM--STORIES AND
JEST-BOOKS--SKELTON, SCOGIN, TARLTON, PEELE 228
CHAPTER XV.
THE AGE OF THE REFORMATION--THOMAS MURNER; HIS GENERAL
SATIRES--FRUITFULNESS OF FOLLY--HANS SACHS--THE
TRAP FOR FOOLS--ATTACKS ON LUTHER--THE POPE AS
ANTICHRIST--THE POPE-ASS AND THE MONK-CALF--OTHER
CARICATURES AGAINST THE POPE--THE GOOD AND BAD
SHEPHERDS 244
CHAPTER XVI.
ORIGIN OF MEDIÆVAL FARCE AND MODERN
COMEDY--HROTSVITHA--MEDIÆVAL NOTIONS OF TERENCE--THE
EARLY RELIGIOUS PLAYS--MYSTERIES AND MIRACLE
PLAYS--THE FARCES--THE DRAMA IN THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 264
CHAPTER XVII.
DIABLERIE IN THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY--EARLY TYPES OF THE
DIABOLICAL FORMS--ST. ANTHONY--ST. GUTHLAC--REVIVAL OF
THE TASTE FOR SUCH SUBJECTS IN THE BEGINNING OF THE
SIXTEENTH CENTURY--THE FLEMISH SCHOOL OF BREUGHEL--THE
FRENCH AND ITALIAN SCHOOLS--CALLOT, SALVATOR ROSA 288
CHAPTER XVIII.
CALLOT AND HIS SCHOOL--CALLOT'S ROMANTIC HISTORY--HIS
"CAPRICI," AND OTHER BURLESQUE WORKS--THE "BALLI"
AND THE BEGGARS--IMITATORS OF CALLOT; DELLA
BELLA--EXAMPLES OF DELLA BELLA--ROMAIN DE HOOGHE 300
CHAPTER XIX.
THE SATIRICAL LITERATURE OF THE SIXTEENTH
CENTURY--PASQUIL--MACARONIC POETRY--THE EPISTOLÆ
OBSCURORUM VIRORUM--RABELAIS--COURT OF THE QUEEN OF
NAVARRE, AND ITS LITERARY CIRCLE; BONAVENTURE DES
PERIERS--HENRI ETIENNE--THE LIGUE, AND ITS SATIRE: THE
"SATYRE MENIPPEE" 312
CHAPTER XX.
POLITICAL CARICATURE IN ITS INFANCY--THE REVERS DU
JEU DES SUYSSES--CARICATURE IN FRANCE--THE THREE
ORDERS--PERIOD OF THE LIGUE; CARICATURES AGAINST HENRI
III.--CARICATURES AGAINST THE LIGUE--CARICATURE IN
FRANCE IN THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY--GENERAL GALAS--THE
QUARREL OF AMBASSADORS--CARICATURE AGAINST LOUIS XXV.;
WILLIAM OF FURSTEMBERG 347
CHAPTER XXI.
EARLY POLITICAL CARICATURE IN ENGLAND--THE SATIRICAL
WRITINGS AND PICTURES OF THE COMMONWEALTH
PERIOD--SATIRES AGAINST THE BISHOPS; BISHOP
WILLIAMS--CARICATURES ON THE CAVALIERS; SIR JOHN
SUCKLING--THE ROARING BOYS; VIOLENCE OF THE ROYALIST
SOLDIERS--CONTEST BETWEEN THE PRESBYTERIANS AND
INDEPENDENTS--GRINDING THE KING'S NOSE--PLAYING-CARDS
USED AS THE MEDIUM FOR CARICATURE; HASELRIGGE AND
LAMBERT--SHROVETIDE 360
CHAPTER XXII.
ENGLISH COMEDY--BEN JONSON--THE OTHER WRITERS OF HIS
SCHOOL--INTERRUPTION OF DRAMATIC PERFORMANCES--COMEDY
AFTER THE RESTORATION--THE HOWARDS BROTHERS; THE DUKE
OF BUCKINGHAM; THE REHEARSAL--WRITERS OF COMEDY IN THE
LATTER PART OF THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY--INDECENCY OF
THE STAGE--COLLEY CIBBER--FOOTE 375
CHAPTER XXIII.
CARICATURE IN HOLLAND--ROMAIN DE HOOGHE--THE ENGLISH
REVOLUTION--CARICATURES ON LOUIS XIV. AND
JAMES II.--DR. SACHEVERELL--CARICATURE BROUGHT
FROM HOLLAND TO ENGLAND--ORIGIN OF THE WORD
"CARICATURE"--MISSISSIPPI AND THE SOUTH SEA; THE YEAR
OF BUBBLES 406
CHAPTER XXIV.
ENGLISH CARICATURE IN THE AGE OF GEORGE II.--ENGLISH
PRINTSELLERS--ARTISTS EMPLOYED BY THEM--SIR ROBERT
WALPOLE'S LONG MINISTRY--THE WAR WITH FRANCE--THE
NEWCASTLE ADMINISTRATION--OPERA INTRIGUES--ACCESSION
OF GEORGE III., AND LORD BUTE IN POWER 420
CHAPTER XXV.
HOGARTH--HIS EARLY HISTORY--HIS SETS OF PICTURES--THE
HARLOT'S PROGRESS--THE RAKE'S PROGRESS--THE MARRIAGE A
LA MODE--HIS OTHER PRINTS--THE ANALYSIS OF BEAUTY, AND
THE PERSECUTION ARISING OUT OF IT--HIS PATRONAGE BY
LORD BUTE--CARICATURE OF THE TIMES--ATTACKS TO WHICH
HE WAS EXPOSED BY IT, AND WHICH HASTENED HIS DEATH 434
CHAPTER XXVI.
THE LESSER CARICATURISTS OF THE REIGN OF GEORGE
III.--PAUL SANDBY--COLLET: THE DISASTER,
AND FATHER PAUL IN HIS CUPS--JAMES SAYER:
HIS CARICATURES IN SUPPORT OF PITT, AND HIS
REWARD--CARLO KHAN'S TRIUMPH--BUNBURY'S: HIS
CARICATURES ON HORSEMANSHIP--WOODWARD: GENERAL
COMPLAINT--ROWLANDSON'S INFLUENCE ON THE STYLE OF
THOSE WHOSE DESIGNS HE ETCHED--JOHN KAY OF EDINBURGH:
LOOKING A ROCK IN THE FACE 450
CHAPTER XXVII.
GILLRAY--HIS FIRST ATTEMPTS--HIS CARICATURES BEGIN
WITH THE SHELBURNE MINISTRY--IMPEACHMENT OF
WARREN HASTINGS--CARICATURES ON THE KING; NEW
WAY TO PAY THE NATIONAL DEBT--ALLEGED REASON FOR
GILLRAY'S HOSTILITY TO THE KING--THE KING AND THE
APPLE-DUMPLINGS--GILLRAY'S LATER LABOURS--HIS IDIOTCY
AND DEATH 464
CHAPTER XXVIII.
GILLRAY'S CARICATURES ON SOCIAL LIFE--THOMAS
ROWLANDSON--HIS EARLY LIFE--HE BECOMES A
CARICATURIST--HIS STYLE AND WORKS--HIS DRAWINGS--THE
CRUIKSHANKS 480
A HISTORY
OF
CARICATURE AND GROTESQUE.
CHAPTER I.
ORIGIN OF CARICATURE AND GROTESQUE.--SPIRIT OF CARICATURE IN
EGYPT.--MONSTERS: PYTHON AND GORGON.--GREECE.--THE DIONYSIAC
CEREMONIES, AND ORIGIN OF THE DRAMA.--THE OLD COMEDY.--LOVE OF
PARODY.--PARODIES ON SUBJECTS TAKEN FROM GRECIAN MYTHOLOGY: THE
VISIT TO THE LOVER: APOLLO AT DELPHI.--THE PARTIALITY FOR PARODY
CONTINUED AMONG THE ROMANS: THE FLIGHT OF ÆNEAS.
It is not my intention in the following pages to discuss the question
what constitutes the comic or the laughable, or, in other words, to
enter into the philosophy of the subject; I design only to trace
the history of its outward development, the various forms it has
assumed, and its social influence. Laughter appears to be almost a
necessity of human nature, in all conditions of man's existence,
however rude or however cultivated; and some of the greatest men of
all ages, men of the most refined intellects, such as Cicero in the
ages of antiquity, and Erasmus among the moderns, have been celebrated
for their indulgence in it. The former was sometimes called by his
opponents _scurra consularis_, the "consular jester;" and the latter,
who has been spoken of as the "mocking-bird," is said to have laughed
so immoderately over the well-known "Epistolæ Obscurorum Virorum,"
that he brought upon himself a serious fit of illness. The greatest of
comic writers, Aristophanes, has always been looked upon as a model of
literary perfection. An epigram in the Greek Anthology, written by the
divine Plato, tells us how, when the Graces sought a temple which would
not fall, they found the soul of Aristophanes:--
Ἁι χάριτες τέμενός τι λαβεῖν ὁπερ οὐχὶ πεσεῖται
Ζητοῦσαι, ψυχὴν εὔρον Ἀριστοφάνους.
On the other hand, the men who never laughed, the ἀγέλαστοι, were
looked upon as the least respectable of mortals.
A tendency to burlesque and caricature appears, indeed, to be a feeling
deeply implanted in human nature, and it is one of the earliest talents
displayed by people in a rude state of society. An appreciation of, and
sensitiveness to, ridicule, and a love of that which is humorous, are
found even among savages, and enter largely into their relations with
their fellow men. When, before people cultivated either literature or
art, the chieftain sat in his rude hall surrounded by his warriors,
they amused themselves by turning their enemies and opponents into
mockery, by laughing at their weaknesses, joking on their defects,
whether physical or mental, and giving them nicknames in accordance
therewith,--in fact, caricaturing them in words, or by telling stories
which were calculated to excite laughter. When the agricultural slaves
(for the tillers of the land were then slaves) were indulged with a
day of relief from their labours, they spent it in unrestrained mirth.
And when these same people began to erect permanent buildings, and
to ornament them, the favourite subjects of their ornamentation were
such as presented ludicrous ideas. The warrior, too, who caricatured
his enemy in his speeches over the festive board, soon sought to give
a more permanent form to his ridicule, which he endeavoured to do by
rude delineations on the bare rock, or on any other convenient surface
which presented itself to his hand. Thus originated caricature and
the grotesque in art. In fact, art itself, in its earliest forms, is
caricature; for it is only by that exaggeration of features which
belongs to caricature, that unskilful draughtsmen could make themselves
understood.
[Illustration: _No. 1. An Egyptian Lady at a Feast._]
Although we might, perhaps, find in different countries examples of
these principles in different states of development, we cannot in any
one country trace the entire course of the development itself: for in
all the highly civilised races of mankind, we first become acquainted
with their history when they had already reached a considerable
degree of refinement; and even at that period of their progress, our
knowledge is almost confined to their religious, and to their more
severely historical, monuments. Such is especially the case with
Egypt, the history of which country, as represented by its monuments
of art, carries us back to the remotest ages of antiquity. Egyptian
art generally presents itself in a sombre and massive character, with
little of gaiety or joviality in its designs or forms. Yet, as Sir
Gardner Wilkinson has remarked in his valuable work on the "Manners
and Customs of the Ancient Egyptians," the early Egyptian artists
cannot always conceal their natural tendency to the humorous, which
creeps out in a variety of little incidents. Thus, in a series of grave
historical pictures on one of the great monuments at Thebes, we find
a representation of a wine party, where the company consists of both
sexes, and which evidently shows that the ladies were not restricted
in the use of the juice of the grape in their entertainments; and,
as he adds, "the painters, in illustrating this fact, have sometimes
sacrificed their gallantry to a love of caricature." Among the
females, evidently of rank, represented in this scene, "some call the
servants to support them as they sit, others with difficulty prevent
themselves from falling on those behind them, and the faded flower,
which is ready to drop from their heated hands, is intended to be
characteristic of their own sensations." One group, a lady whose
excess has been carried too far, and her servant who comes to her
assistance, is represented in our cut No. 1. Sir Gardner observes that
"many similar instances of a talent for caricature are observable in
the compositions of the Egyptian artists, who executed the paintings
of the tombs" at Thebes, which belong to a very early period of the
Egyptian annals. Nor is the application of this talent restricted
always to secular subjects, but we see it at times intruding into the
most sacred mysteries of their religion. I give as a curious example,
taken from one of Sir Gardner Wilkinson's engravings, a scene in the
representation of a funeral procession crossing the Lake of the Dead
(No. 2), that appears in one of these early paintings at Thebes, in
which "the love of caricature common to the Egyptians is shown to have
been indulged even in this serious subject; and the retrograde movement
of the large boat, which has grounded and is pushed off the bank,
striking the smaller one with its rudder, has overturned a large table
loaded with cakes and other things, upon the rowers seated below, in
spite of all the efforts of the prowman, and the earnest vociferations
of the alarmed steersman." The accident which thus overthrows and
scatters the provisions intended for the funeral feast, and the
confusion attendant upon it, form a ludicrous scene in the midst of a
solemn picture, that would be worthy of the imagination of a Rowlandson.
[Illustration: _No. 2. Catastrophe in a Funeral Procession._]
[Illustration: _No. 3. An Unfortunate Soul._]
Another cut (No. 3), taken from one of the same series of paintings,
belongs to a class of caricatures which dates from a very remote
period. One of the most natural ideas among all people would be to
compare men with the animals whose particular qualities they possessed.
Thus, one might be as bold as a lion, another as faithful as a dog,
or as cunning as a fox, or as swinish as a hog. The name of the
animal would thus often be given as a nickname to the man, and in
the sequel he would be represented pictorially under the form of the
animal. It was partly out of this kind of caricature, no doubt, that
the singular class of apologues which have been since distinguished
by the name of fables arose. Connected with it was the belief in
the metempsychosis, or transmission of the soul into the bodies of
animals after death, which formed a part of several of the primitive
religions. The earliest examples of this class of caricature of mankind
are found on the Egyptian monuments, as in the instance just referred
to, which represents "a soul condemned to return to earth under the
form of a pig, having been weighed in the scales before Osiris and
been found wanting. Being placed in a boat, and accompanied by two
monkeys, it is dismissed the sacred precinct." The latter animals, it
may be remarked, as they are here represented, are the cynocephali, or
dog-headed monkeys (the _simia inuus_), which were sacred animals among
the Egyptians, and the peculiar characteristic of which--the dog-shaped
head--is, as usual, exaggerated by the artist.
The representation of this return of a condemned soul under the
repulsive form of a pig, is painted on the left side wall of the long
entrance-gallery to the tomb of King Rameses V., in the valley of
royal catacombs known as the Biban-el-Molook, at Thebes. Wilkinson
gives the date of the accession of this monarch to the throne as 1185,
B.C. In the original picture, Osiris is seated on his throne
at some distance from the stern of the boat, and is dismissing it from
his presence by a wave of the hand. This tomb was open in the time of
the Romans, and termed by them the "Tomb of Memnon;" it was greatly
admired, and is covered with laudatory inscriptions by Greek and Roman
visitors. One of the most interesting is placed beneath this picture,
recording the name of a _daduchus_, or torch-bearer in the Eleusinian
mysteries, who visited this tomb in the reign of Constantine.
[Illustration: _No. 4. The Cat and the Geese._]
[Illustration: _No. 5. The Fox turned Piper._]
The practice having been once introduced of representing men under the
character of animals, was soon developed into other applications of the
same idea--such as that of figuring animals employed in the various
occupations of mankind, and that of reversing the position of man and
the inferior animals, and representing the latter as treating their
human tyrant in the same manner as they are usually treated by him.
The latter idea became a very favourite one at a later period, but
the other is met with not unfrequently among the works of art which
have been saved from the wrecks of antiquity. Among the treasures
of the British Museum, there is a long Egyptian picture on papyrus,
originally forming a roll, consisting of representations of this
description, from which I give three curious examples. The first (see
cut No. 4) represents a cat in charge of a drove of geese. It will be
observed that the cat holds in her hand the same sort of rod, with a
hook at the end, with which the monkeys are furnished in the preceding
picture. The second (No. 5) represents a fox carrying a basket by means
of a pole supported on his shoulder (a method of carrying burthens
frequently represented on the monuments of ancient art), and playing on
the well-known double flute, or pipe. The fox soon became a favourite
personage in this class of caricatures, and we know what a prominent
part he afterwards played in mediæval satire. Perhaps, however, the
most popular of all animals in this class of drolleries was the monkey,
which appears natural enough when we consider its singular aptitude
to mimic the actions of man. The ancient naturalists tell us some
curious, though not very credible, stories of the manner in which this
characteristic of the monkey tribes was taken advantage of to entrap
them, and Pliny (Hist. Nat. lib. viii. c. 80) quotes an older writer,
who asserted that they had even been taught to play at draughts. Our
third subject from the Egyptian papyrus of the British Museum (No. 6)
represents a scene in which the game of draughts--or, more properly
speaking, the game which the Romans called the _ludus latrunculorum_,
and which is believed to have resembled our draughts--is played by two
animals well known to modern heraldry, the lion and the unicorn. The
lion has evidently gained the victory, and is fingering the money; and
his bold air of swaggering superiority, as well as the look of surprise
and disappointment of his vanquished opponent, are by no means ill
pictured. This series of caricatures, though Egyptian, belongs to the
Roman period.
[Illustration: _No. 6. The Lion and the Unicorn._]
[Illustration: _No. 7. Typhon._]
The monstrous is closely allied to the grotesque, and both come within
the province of caricature, when we take this term in its widest
sense. The Greeks, especially, were partial to representations of
monsters, and monstrous forms are continually met with among their
ornaments and works of art. The type of the Egyptian monster is
represented in the accompanying cut (No. 7), taken from the work of
Sir Gardner Wilkinson before quoted, and is said to be the figure
of the god Typhon. It occurs frequently on Egyptian monuments, with
some variation in its forms, but always characterised by the broad,
coarse, and frightful face, and by the large tongue lolling out. It is
interesting to us, because it is the apparent origin of a long series
of faces, or masks, of this form and character, which are continually
recurring in the grotesque ornamentation, not only of the Greeks and
Romans, but of the middle ages. It appears to have been sometimes given
by the Romans to the representations of people whom they hated or
despised; and Pliny, in a curious passage of his "Natural History,"[1]
informs us that at one time, among the pictures exhibited in the Forum
at Rome, there was one in which a Gaul was represented, "thrusting
out his tongue in a very unbecoming manner." The Egyptian Typhons had
their exact representations in ancient Greece in a figure of frequent
occurrence, to which antiquaries have, I know not why, given the name
of Gorgon. The example in our cut No. 8, is a figure in terra-cotta,
now in the collection of the Royal Museum at Berlin.[2]
[1] Plin. Hist. Nat., lib. xxxv. c. 8.
[2] Panoska Terracotten des Museums Berlin, pl. lxi. p. 154.
[Illustration: _No. 8. Gorgon._]
In Greece, however, the spirit of caricature and burlesque
representation had assumed a more regular form than in other
countries, for it was inherent in the spirit of Grecian society.
Among the population of Greece, the worship of Dionysus, or Bacchus,
had taken deep root from a very early period--earlier than we can
trace back--and it formed the nucleus of the popular religion and
superstitions, the cradle of poetry and the drama. The most popular
celebrations of the people of Greece, were the Dionysiac festivals,
and the phallic rites and processions which accompanied them, in
which the chief actors assumed the disguise of satyrs and fawns,
covering themselves with goat-skins, and disfiguring their faces by
rubbing them over with the lees of wine. Thus, in the guise of noisy
bacchanals, they displayed an unrestrained licentiousness of gesture
and language, uttering indecent jests and abusive speeches, in which
they spared nobody. This portion of the ceremony was the especial
attribute of a part of the performers, who accompanied the procession
in waggons, and acted something like dramatic performances, in which
they uttered an abundance of loose extempore satire on those who
passed or who accompanied the procession, a little in the style of
the modern carnivals. It became thus the occasion for an unrestrained
publication of coarse pasquinades. In the time of Pisistratus, these
performances are assumed to have been reduced to a little more order by
an individual named Thespis, who is said to have invented masks as a
better disguise than dirty faces, and is looked upon as the father of
the Grecian drama. There can be no doubt, indeed, that the drama arose
out of these popular ceremonies, and it long bore the unmistakable
marks of its origin. Even the name of tragedy has nothing tragic in
its derivation, for it is formed from the Greek word _tragos_
(τράγος), a goat, in the skins of which animal the satyrs clothed
themselves, and hence the name was given also to those who personated
the satyrs in the processions. A _tragodus_ (τραγῳδὸς) was the singer,
whose words accompanied the movements of a chorus of satyrs, and the
term _tragodia_ was applied to his performance. In the same manner,
a _comodus_ (κωμωδὸς) was one who accompanied similarly, with chants
of an abusive or satirical character, a _comus_ (κῶμος), or band of
revellers, in the more riotous and licentious portion of the
performances in the Bacchic festivals. The Greek drama always betrayed
its origin by the circumstance that the performances took place
annually, only at the yearly festivals in honour of Bacchus, of which
in fact they constituted a part. Moreover, as the Greek drama became
perfected, it still retained from its origin a triple division, into
tragedy, comedy, and the satiric drama; and, being still performed
at the Dionysiac festival in Athens, each dramatic author was expected
to produce what was called a _trilogy_, that is, a tragedy, a satirical
play, and a comedy. So completely was all this identified in the
popular mind with the worship of Bacchus, that, long afterwards, when
even a tragedy did not please the audience by its subject, the common
form of disapproval was, τί ταῦτα πρὸς τὸν Διόνυσον--"What has this
to do with Bacchus?" and, οὐδὲν πρὸς τὸν Διόνυσον--"This has nothing
to do with Bacchus."
We have no perfect remains of the Greek satiric drama, which was,
perhaps, of a temporary character, and less frequently preserved; but
the early Greek comedy is preserved in a certain number of the plays
of Aristophanes, in which we can contemplate it in all its freedom of
character. It represented the waggon-jesting, of the age of Thespis, in
its full development. In its form it was burlesque to a wanton degree
of extravagance, and its essence was personal vilification, as well as
general satire. Individuals were not only attacked by the application
to them of abusive epithets, but they were represented personally on
the stage as performing every kind of contemptible action, and as
suffering all sorts of ludicrous and disgraceful treatment. The drama
thus bore marks of its origin in its extraordinary licentiousness
of language and costume, and in the constant use of the mask. One
of its most favourite instruments of satire was parody, which was
employed unsparingly on everything which society in its solemn moments
respected--against everything that the satirist considered worthy of
being held up to public derision or scorn. Religion itself, philosophy,
social manners and institutions--even poetry--were all parodied in
their turn. The comedies of Aristophanes are full of parodies on the
poetry of the tragic and other writers of his age. He is especially
happy in parodying the poetry of the tragic dramatist Euripides. The
old comedy of Greece has thus been correctly described as the comedy of
caricature; and the spirit, and even the scenes, of this comedy, being
transferred to pictorial representations, became entirely identical
with that branch of art to which we give the name of caricature in
modern times. Under the cover of bacchanalian buffoonery, a serious
purpose, it is true, was aimed at; but the general satire was chiefly
implied in the violent personal attacks on individuals, and this became
so offensive that when such persons obtained greater power in Athens
than the populace the old comedy was abolished.
Aristophanes was the greatest and most perfect poet of the Old Comedy,
and his remaining comedies are as strongly marked representations of
the hostility of political and social parties in his time, as the
caricatures of Gillray are of party in the reign of our George III.,
and, we may add, even more minute. They range through the memorable
period of the Peloponnesian war, and the earlier ones give us the
regular annual series of these performances, as far as Aristophanes
contributed them, during several years. The first of them, "The
Acharnians," was performed at the Lenæan feast of Bacchus in the sixth
year of the Peloponnesian war, the year 425 B.C., when it gained the
first prize. It is a bold attack on the factious prolongation of the
war through the influence of the Athenian demagogues. The next, "The
Knights," brought out in B.C. 424, is a direct attack upon Cleon, the
chief of these demagogues, although he is not mentioned by name; and
it is recorded that, finding nobody who had courage enough to make a
mask representing Cleon, or to play the character, Aristophanes was
obliged to perform it himself, and that he smeared his face with lees
of wine, in order to represent the flushed and bloated countenance of
the great demagogue, thus returning to the original mode of acting
of the predecessors of Thespis. This, too, was the first of the
comedies of Aristophanes which he published in his own name. "The
Clouds," published in 423, is aimed at Socrates and the philosophers.
The fourth, "The Wasps," published in B.C. 422, presents a satire on
the litigious spirit of the Athenians. The fifth, entitled "Peace"
(Ἔιρηνη), appeared in the year following, at the time of the peace of
Nicias, and is another satire on the bellicose spirit of the Athenian
democracy. The next in the list of extant plays comes after an interval
of several years, having been published in B.C. 414, the first year of
the Sicilian war, and relates to an irreligious movement in Athens,
which had caused a great sensation. Two Athenians are represented as
leaving Athens, in disgust at the vices and follies of their fellow
citizens, and seeking the kingdom of the birds, where they form a new
state, by which the communication between the mortals and the immortals
is cut off, and is only opened again by an arrangement between all
the parties. In the "Lysistrata," believed to have been brought out
in 411, when the war was still at its height, the women of Athens are
represented as engaging in a cunning and successful plot, by which
they gain possession of the government of the state, and compel their
husbands to make peace. "The Thesmophoriazusæ," appears to have been
published in B.C. 410; it is a satire upon Euripides, whose writings
were remarkable for their bitter attacks on the character of the
female sex, who, in this comedy, conspire against him to secure his
punishment. The comedy of "The Frogs" was brought out in the year
405 B.C., and is a satire on the literature of the day; it
is aimed especially at Euripides, and was perhaps written soon after
his death, its real subject being the decline of the tragic drama,
which Euripides was accused of having promoted. It is perhaps the most
witty of the plays of Aristophanes which have been preserved. "The
Ecclesiazusæ," published in 392, is a burlesque upon the theories of
republican government, which were then started among the philosophers,
some of which differed little from our modern communism. The ladies
again, by a clever conspiracy, gain the mastery in the estate, and they
decree a community of goods and women, with some laws very peculiar
to that state of things. The humour of the piece, which is extremely
broad, turns upon the disputes and embarrassments resulting from this
state of things. The last of his comedies extant, "Plutus," appears to
be a work of the concluding years of the active life of Aristophanes;
it is the least striking of them all, and is rather a moral than a
political satire.
In a comedy brought out in 426, the year before "The Archarnians,"
under the title of "The Babylonians," Aristophanes appears to have
given great offence to the democratic party, a circumstance to which
he alludes more than once in the former play. However, his talents and
popularity seem to have carried him over the danger, and certainly
nothing can have exceeded the bitterness of satire employed in his
subsequent comedies. Those who followed him were less fortunate.
One of the latest writers of the Old Comedy was Anaximandrides,
who cast a reflection on the state of Athens in parodying a line of
Euripides. This poet had said,--
ἡ φύσις ἐβούλεθ’ ἦ νόμων οὐδεν μέλει
(Nature has commanded, which cares nothing for the laws);
which Anaximandrides changed to--
ἡ πόλις ἐβούλεθ’ ἦ νόμων οὐδεν μέλει
(The state has commanded, which cares nothing for the laws).
Nowhere is oppression exercised with greater harshness than under
democratic governments; and Anaximandrides was prosecuted for this
joke as a crime against the state, and condemned to death. As may be
supposed, liberty of speech ceased to exist in Athens. We are well
acquainted with the character of the Old Comedy, in its greatest
freedom, through the writings of Aristophanes. What was called the
Middle Comedy, in which political satire was prohibited, lasted from
this time until the age of Philip of Macedon, when the old liberty of
Greece was finally crushed. The last form of Greek comedy followed,
which is known as the New Comedy, and was represented by such names as
Epicharmus and Menander. In the New Comedy all caricature and parody,
and all personal allusions, were entirely proscribed; it was changed
entirely into a comedy of manners and domestic life, a picture of
contemporary society under conventional names and characters. From this
New Comedy was taken the Roman comedy, such as we now have it in the
plays of Plautus and Terence, who were professed imitators of Menander
and the other writers of the new comedy of the Greeks.
[Illustration: _No. 9. A Greek Parody._]
Pictorial caricature was, of course, rarely to be seen on the public
monuments of Greece or Rome, but must have been consigned to objects
of a more popular character and to articles of common use; and,
accordingly, modern antiquarian research has brought it to light
somewhat abundantly on the pottery of Greece and Etruria, and on the
wall-paintings of domestic buildings in Herculaneum and Pompeii. The
former contains comic scenes, especially parodies, which are evidently
transferred to them from the stage, and which preserve the marks and
other attributes--some of which I have necessarily omitted--proving the
model from which they were taken. The Greeks, as we know from many
sources, were extremely fond of parodies of every description, whether
literary or pictorial. The subject of our cut No. 9 is a good example
of the parodies found on the Greek pottery; it is taken from a fine
Etruscan vase,[3] and has been supposed to be a parody on the visit of
Jupiter to Alcmena. This appears rather doubtful, but there can be no
doubt that it is a burlesque representation of the visit of a lover
to the object of his aspirations. The lover, in the comic mask and
costume, mounts by a ladder to the window at which the lady presents
herself, who, it must be confessed, presents the appearance of giving
her admirer a very cold reception. He tries to conciliate her by a
present of what seem to be apples, instead of gold, but without much
effect. He is attended by his servant with a torch, to give him light
on the way, which shows that it is a night adventure. Both master and
servant have wreaths round their heads, and the latter carries a third
in his hand, which, with the contents of his basket, are also probably
intended as presents to the lady.
[3] Given in Panofka, "Antiques du Cabinet Pourtalès," pl. x.
A more unmistakable burlesque on the visit of Jupiter to Alcmena is
published by Winckelmann from a vase, formerly in the library of the
Vatican, and now at St. Petersburg. The treatment of the subject is
not unlike the picture just described. Alcmena appears just in the
same posture at her chamber window, and Jupiter is carrying his ladder
to mount up to her, but has not yet placed it against the wall. His
companion is identified with Mercury by the well-known caduceus he
carries in his left hand, while with his right hand he holds a lamp
up to the window, in order to enable Jupiter to see the object of his
amour.
It is astonishing with how much boldness the Greeks parodied and
ridiculed sacred subjects. The Christian father, Arnobius, in writing
against his heathen opponents, reproached them with this circumstance.
The laws, he says, were made to protect the characters of men from
slander and libel, but there was no such protection for the characters
of the gods, which were treated with the greatest disrespect.[4] This
was especially the case in their pictorial representations.
[4] Arnobius (_contra Gentes_), lib. iv. p. 150. Carmen malum
conscribere, quo fama alterius coinquinatur et vita, decemviralibus
scitis evadere noluistis impune: ac ne vestras aures convitio
aliquis petulantiore pulsaret, de atrocibus formulas constituistis
injuriis. Soli dii sunt apud vos superi inhonorati, contemtibiles,
viles: in quos jus est vobis datum quæ quisque voluerit dicere
turpitudinem, jacere quas libido confinxerit atque excogitaverit
formas.
Pliny informs us that Ctesilochus, a pupil of the celebrated Apelles,
painted a burlesque picture of Jupiter giving birth to Bacchus, in
which the god was represented in a very ridiculous posture.[5] Ancient
writers intimate that similar examples were not uncommon, and mention
the names of several comic painters, whose works of this class were
in repute. Some of these were bitter personal caricatures, like a
celebrated work of a painter named Ctesicles, described also by Pliny.
It appears that Stratonice, the queen of Seleucus Nicator, had received
this painter ill when he visited her court, and in revenge he executed
a picture in which she was represented, according to a current scandal,
as engaged in an amour with a common fisherman, which he exhibited in
the harbour of Ephesus, and then made his escape on ship-board. Pliny
adds that the queen admired the beauty and accuracy of the painting
more than she felt the insult, and that she forbade the removal of the
picture.[6]
[5] Pliny, Hist. Nat., lib. xxxv. c. 40.
[6] Pliny, Hist. Nat., lib. xxxv. c. 40.
[Illustration: _No. 10. Apollo at Delphi._]
The subject of our second example of the Greek caricature is better
known. It is taken from an oxybaphon which was brought from the
Continent to England, where it passed into the collection of Mr.
William Hope.[7] The _oxybaphon_ (ὀξύβαφον), or, as it was called
by the Romans, _acetabulum_, was a large vessel for holding vinegar,
which formed one of the important ornaments of the table, and was
therefore very susceptible of pictorial embellishment of this
description. It is one of the most remarkable Greek caricatures
of this kind yet known, and represents a parody on one of the most
interesting stories of the Grecian mythology, that of the arrival of
Apollo at Delphi. The artist, in his love of burlesque, has spared
none of the personages who belonged to the story. The Hyperborean
Apollo himself appears in the character of a quack doctor, on his
temporary stage, covered by a sort of roof, and approached by wooden
steps. On the stage lies Apollo's luggage, consisting of a bag, a
bow, and his Scythian cap. Chiron (ΧΙΡΩΝ) is represented as labouring
under the effects of age and blindness, and supporting himself by the
aid of a crooked staff, as he repairs to the Delphian quack-doctor for
relief. The figure of the centaur is made to ascend by the aid of a
companion, both being furnished with the masks and other attributes of
the comic performers. Above are the mountains, and on them the nymphs
of Parnassus (ΝΥΜΦΑΙ), who, like all the other actors in the scene, are
disguised with masks, and those of a very grotesque character. On the
right-hand side stands a figure which is considered as representing the
_epoptes_, the inspector or overseer of the performance, who alone wears
no mask. Even a pun is employed to heighten the drollery of the scene,
for instead of ΠΥΘΙΑΣ, the Pythian, placed over the head of the
burlesque Apollo, it seems evident that the artist had written ΠΕΙΘΙΑΣ,
the consoler, in allusion, perhaps, to the consolation which the
quack-doctor is administering to his blind and aged visitor.
[7] Engraved by Ch. Lenormant et J. de Witt, "Elite des Monuments
Céramographiques," pl. xciv.
[Illustration: _No. 11. The Flight of Æneas from Troy._]
The Greek spirit of parody, applied even to the most sacred subjects,
however it may have declined in Greece, was revived at Rome, and we
find examples of it on the walls of Pompeii and Herculaneum. They
show the same readiness to turn into burlesque the most sacred and
popular legends of the Roman mythology. The example given (cut No. 11),
from one of the wall-paintings, is peculiarly interesting, both from
circumstances in the drawing itself, and because it is a parody on
one of the favourite national legends of the Roman people, who prided
themselves on their descent from Æneas. Virgil has told, with great
effect, the story of his hero's escape from the destruction of Troy--or
rather has put the story into his hero's mouth. When the devoted
city was already in flames, Æneas took his father, Anchises, on his
shoulder, and his boy, Iulus, or, as he was otherwise called, Ascanius,
by the hand, and thus fled from his home, followed by his wife--
_Ergo age, care pater, cervici imponere nostræ;
Ipse subibo humeris, nec me labor iste gravabit.
Quo res cumque cadent, unum et commune periclum,
Una salus ambobus erit. Mihi parvus Iulus
Sit comes, et longe servat vestigia conjux._
--Virg. Æn., lib. ii. l. 707.
Thus they hurried on, the child holding by his father's right hand, and
dragging after with "unequal steps,"--
_dextræ se parvus Iulus
Implicuit sequiturque patrem non passibus æquis._
--Virg. Æn., lib. ii. 1. 723.
And thus Æneas bore away both father and son, and the penates, or
household gods, of his family, which were to be transferred to another
country, and become the future guardians of Rome--
_Ascanium, Anchisemque patrem, Tencrosque penates._--Ib., 1. 747.
[Illustration: _No. 12. The Flight of Æneas._]
In this case we know that the design is intended to be a parody, or
burlesque, upon a picture which appears to have been celebrated at the
time, and of which at least two different copies are found upon ancient
intaglios. It is the only case I know in which both the original and
the parody have been preserved from this remote period, and this is so
curious a circumstance, that I give in the cut on the preceding page
a copy of one of the intaglios.[8] It represented literally Virgil's
account of the story, and the only difference between the design on the
intaglios and the one given in our first cut is, that in the latter
the personages are represented under the forms of monkeys. Æneas,
personified by the strong and vigorous animal, carrying the old monkey,
Anchises, on his left shoulder, hurries forward, and at the same time
looks back on the burning city. With his right hand he drags along
the boy Iulus, or Ascanius, who is evidently proceeding _non passibus
æquis_, and with difficulty keeps up with his father's pace. The boy
wears a Phrygian bonnet, and holds in his right hand the instrument
of play which we should now call a "bandy"--the pedun. Anchises has
charge of the box, which contains the sacred penates. It is a curious
circumstance that the monkeys in this picture are the same dog-headed
animals, or cynocephali, which are found on the Egyptian monuments.
[8] These intaglios are engraved in the Museum Florentinum of Gorius,
vol. ii. pl. 30. On one of them the figures are reversed.
* * * * *
When this chapter was already given for press, I first became
acquainted with an interesting paper, by Panofka, on the "Parodieen
und Karikaturen auf Werken der Klassischen Kunst," in the
"Abhandlungen der Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Berlin," for the
year 1854, and I can only now refer my readers to it.