print;
satirical print
- Museum number
- 1868,0808.3721
- Title
- Object: The Queen of Hungary in Splendor, or the Monseirs Pounded in Prague
- Description
-
Satire on the siege of Prague in the summer of 1742. To right of centre, Maria Theresa on horseback proclaims victory while Cardinal Fleury pleads on his knees in front of her, his crutch lying on the ground. At lower right, the Earl of Stair, on horseback holding a flag with the royal coat-of-arms, attempts to pull forward a Dutchman on a donkey while a Frenchman whispers in the Dutchman's ear, "You shall have Dunk[ir]k" (Stair was British ambassador charged with achieving Dutch participation in the war). Behind this group, Louis XV, kneels exclaiming, "I've miscarry'd of Universal Empire", and Charles VII clutching his crown in his hand, moans "I have lost B[a]v[ari]a", and the Duke of Modena cries, "I have lost Modena"; a soldier on horseback behind the Queen waveshis sword declairng "I'm for M-d-a". In the foreground to left, two dogs climb on a dead horse and a dead soldier lies beside his horse; three soldiers, apparently Hungarians stand besdie them. Other soldiers stand with their horses among the tents of the Austrian army; a woman cooks over a camp fire; beyond the camp Austrian artillery bombards the city. Field Marshal Lobkowitz rides along the line declaring, "If they burn a House I'll hang two Marshalls of France", referring to Marshalls Broglie and Belle Isle who stand on a tower in Prague Castle; the former saying, "Zounds let us surrender" to which the other replies "By G[o]d Br[og]l[i]e I wont loose my breeches"; breeches fly from a flag pole nearby beside a flag with the fleur-de-lis. In the background, a bridge across the river is collapsing; mountains rise in the background to right and a group of horsemen observe the siege from a height.
Etching
- Production date
- 1742 (circa)
- Dimensions
-
Height: 181 millimetres (image)
-
Height: 191 millimetres (trimmed?)
-
Width: 310 millimetres (trimmed to image)
- $Inscriptions
-
- Curator's comments
- The pose of Louis XV is based on that of Hogarth's Rake in Plate 6 of A Rake's Progress.
- Location
- Not on display
- Associated events
- Associated Event: War of Austrian Succession 1740-1748
- Acquisition date
- 1868
- Department
- Prints and Drawings
- Registration number
- 1868,0808.3721