James Gillray: The Art of Caricature

Titianus Redivius; -or- The Seven Wise men consulting the new Venetian Oracle

Detail from: Titianus Redivivus; - or - The Seven-Wise-Men consulting the new Venetian Oracle, 1797. The British Museum

This is a small but telling detail which appears in the background of all three of the prints highlighted in this part of the website: a classical temple on a mountain. This is probably intended as Mount Helicon, in Greek mythology the sacred hill of the Muses. Here the temple on the top of Mount Helicon is covered with scaffolding, suggesting that the artistic values which the Royal Academy ought to have been defending have been completely neglected.

Detail from: Titianus Redivivus; - or - The Seven-Wise-Men consulting the new Venetian Oracle, 1797. The British Museum

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