Integrity retiring from Office! de GILLRAY, James - 1801

London: Hannah Humphries, 1801. unbound. Etching with hand coloring. Image measures 10" x 14", sheet measures 10.5" x 14.75". Shows some slight discoloration at edges. In very good condition. Text at bottom reads: "Integrity retiring from Office! Men in conscious Virtue bold! Who dare their Honest purpose hold. Nor heed the Mob's tumultuous cries; And the vile rage of Jacobins - despise." A group of resigning ministers, led by Pitt who holds a document entitled "Justice of Emancipating ye Catholicks", leaving through an arched gateway inscribed "Treasury." Following Pitt are Dundas, Grenville, Spencer and Loughborough. From the left, represented by a plebian rabble, is the Opposition, led by Sheridan and Tierney. Behind are Jekyll, Bedford, Nicholls, Tyrhwitt Jones, Norfolk and Burdett. The Opposition is held at bay by a sentry with G.R. on his busby. James Gillray (1756-1816) was a British caricaturist and printmaker who used impressive manipulation of the human form to create some of the most biting satire of the period. With subjects ranging from ladies' fashion to the Napoleonic Wars, Gillray's ridicule of leaders such as Napoleon all the way to George III were rarely rivaled in their sardonic humor or their originality. Thus, the print appears as exemplary of the work for which Gillray is famous.