Unhappy Ghosts Crossing the Styx: In Base-relief

December 11, 1834

Not on view

This satire uses a passage from Virgil's Aeneid (VI.126) to comment on contemporary politics. William IV is cast as Charon ferrying former ministers over the Styx and taking their seals of office as tolls. Lord Melbourne has landed and walks away, Lord Duncannon hands his seal to the ferryman, followed by Lord Palmerson and Thomas Spring Rice. The Duke of Wellington at the stern, as Mercury, prevents Lord Brougham from escaping. Quoting Virgil, the Duke reminds the ex-Chancellor how much easier it is to fall than to rise again: "facilis descensus Averni," a reference to the Chancellor's recent speaking tour that lost him the king's favor. In response the Chancellor exclaims "Flectere si nequeo superos, Acheronta movebo," which can be freely translated as - if I cannot subdue the House of Lords, I will stir up a commotion in the Birmingham Political Union.

Artwork Details

Overview

Signatures, Inscriptions, and Markings

Provenance

Title: Unhappy Ghosts Crossing the Styx: In Base-relief
Series/Portfolio: HB Sketches, No. 359
Artist: John Doyle (Irish, Dublin 1797–1868 London)
Publisher: Thomas McLean (British, 1788–1875)
Lithographer: Ducôte and Stephen (British, active 1830–40)
Subject: Henry Peter Brougham (British, Edinburgh 1778–1868 Cannes, France)
Subject: William IV, King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland (British, 1765–1837)
Subject: John William Ponsonby, 4th Earl of Bessborough (British, 1781–1847)
Subject: Henry John Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston (British, 1784–1865)
Subject: Thomas Spring Rice, 1st Baron Monteagle (British, 1790–1866)
Subject: William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne (British, London 1779–1848 Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire)
Subject: Henry Peter, 1st Baron Brougham and Vaux (British, Edinburgh, Scotland 1778–1868 Cannes)
Date: December 11, 1834
Medium: Lithograph
Dimensions: Sheet: 11 3/4 × 17 1/2 in. (29.9 × 44.5 cm)
Classification: Prints
Credit Line: The Elisha Whittelsey Collection, The Elisha Whittelsey Fund, 2014
Object Number: 2014.757.5(16)
Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints

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