File:The Explanation (BM 1868,0808.6744).jpg
Original file (1,600 × 1,125 pixels, file size: 489 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg)
Captions
Summary
[edit]The Explanation ( ) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Artist |
Print made by: James Gillray
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||
Title |
The Explanation |
|||||||||||||||||||||||
Description |
English: Pitt (left) fires his pistol into the air; Tierney (right) fires straight at Pitt, saying, "Missed him! by G . . " Each has a second pistol in his left hand. Pitt, in profile, says: "The only Explanation I give is this! There! - that's to shew you, that I bear no Personal Enmity! - but that no consideration of my own Safety, shall deter me from doing my duty to King & Country!!! - so Fire away!" His second, Dudley Ryder, stands behind (left) holding a sheathed sword; he adds: "no nor unsay any thing which we know to be true, neither." Tierney faces three-quarter to the left; in his belt, inscribed 'Egalité', are two daggers dripping blood; a tricolour cockade decorates his round hat. Behind him (right) and on a smaller scale than the other second is George Walpole, both fists clenched, a pair of large pistols under his left arm; he says: "Missed him? - O Lord! Its worse than ye Morroon business! O Lord! O Lord! - if he had but been popp'd off, how nicely we might have popp'd on, - O Lord! O lord." He wears a very large cocked hat and, unlike the others, is caricatured. (He is described as leaping over the furze-bushes for joy at seeing the duellists still erect. Rose, op. cit.) Behind Tierney is an empty gibbet inscribed 'Abershaw', placarded 'This Old Iron Shop to left'. On it sits a crow with the head of Burdett in profile to the left. The scene is a plateau of grass and sand, with St. Paul's and London spires in the distance. In the middle distance is a coach; a man holds the door open, watching the duel, as does a postilion on the (nearer) off horse. See BMSat 9218, &c. 30 May 1798
Hand-coloured etching |
|||||||||||||||||||||||
Depicted people | Associated with: Jerry Abershaw | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Date |
1798 date QS:P571,+1798-00-00T00:00:00Z/9 |
|||||||||||||||||||||||
Medium | paper | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Dimensions |
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||
Collection |
institution QS:P195,Q6373 |
|||||||||||||||||||||||
Current location |
Prints and Drawings |
|||||||||||||||||||||||
Accession number |
1868,0808.6744 |
|||||||||||||||||||||||
Notes |
(Description and comment from M.Dorothy George, 'Catalogue of Political and Personal Satires in the British Museum', VII, 1942) Grego, 'Gillray', p. 242. Wright and Evans, No. 201. Reprinted, 'G.W.G.', 1830. |
|||||||||||||||||||||||
Source/Photographer | https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/P_1868-0808-6744 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Permission (Reusing this file) |
© The Trustees of the British Museum, released as CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 |
Licensing
[edit]This image is in the public domain because it is a mere mechanical scan or photocopy of a public domain original, or – from the available evidence – is so similar to such a scan or photocopy that no copyright protection can be expected to arise. The original itself is in the public domain for the following reason:
This tag is designed for use where there may be a need to assert that any enhancements (eg brightness, contrast, colour-matching, sharpening) are in themselves insufficiently creative to generate a new copyright. It can be used where it is unknown whether any enhancements have been made, as well as when the enhancements are clear but insufficient. For known raw unenhanced scans you can use an appropriate {{PD-old}} tag instead. For usage, see Commons:When to use the PD-scan tag. Note: This tag applies to scans and photocopies only. For photographs of public domain originals taken from afar, {{PD-Art}} may be applicable. See Commons:When to use the PD-Art tag. |
File history
Click on a date/time to view the file as it appeared at that time.
Date/Time | Thumbnail | Dimensions | User | Comment | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
current | 20:51, 9 May 2020 | 1,600 × 1,125 (489 KB) | Copyfraud (talk | contribs) | British Museum public domain uploads (Copyfraud/BM) Satirical prints in the British Museum 1798 #3,574/12,043 |
You cannot overwrite this file.
File usage on Commons
The following page uses this file:
Metadata
This file contains additional information such as Exif metadata which may have been added by the digital camera, scanner, or software program used to create or digitize it. If the file has been modified from its original state, some details such as the timestamp may not fully reflect those of the original file. The timestamp is only as accurate as the clock in the camera, and it may be completely wrong.
Orientation | Normal |
---|---|
Horizontal resolution | 300 dpi |
Vertical resolution | 300 dpi |
Software used | Adobe Photoshop Elements 2.0 |
File change date and time | 10:25, 1 August 2006 |
Color space | Uncalibrated |