print;
satirical print
- Museum number
- 1868,0808.4128
- Title
- Object: Just arriv'd from Italy | The puffing phaenomenon with his fiery tail turn'd bridge builder, shewing the artful section of his stones.
- Description
-
Satire on the appointment of the Scotsman, Robert Mylne, as architect of Blackfriars Bridge. Mylne ('The Phenomenon') sits on a pier of the bridge defecating, thus sending a 'Fiery Tail' including his 'Observations on Bridge Building' and a medal lettered 'Rome', towards a group of disgruntled rival architects; a Scottish man and woman in the foreground look on and three Scotsmen standing on the bridge admire his success, attributing to clever self-advertisement ('puffing'). Through an arch of the bridge is seen a courier riding hard for Edinburgh crying, 'Medals Diplomas Diplomas from Rome'. 1760
Etching
- Production date
- 1760
- Dimensions
-
Height: 245 millimetres
-
Width: 323 millimetres
- $Inscriptions
-
- Curator's comments
- The ODNB gives the background to the satire: "In 1758 .... [Mylne] became the first Briton to win the silver medal at the Concorso Clementino of the Accademia di San Luca, submitting designs for a large public building to house monuments of famous men. ... In 1759 Mylne travelled through the Netherlands to London, where publicity of his success had preceded him and no doubt contributed to the second triumph with which he met. The competition for a new bridge over the Thames at Blackfriars was to close in October, allowing just enough time for Mylne to enter. His design showed influences both from Italian historical precedent and Piranesi's contemporary engravings, and was among the eleven short-listed. Its elliptical arches were controversial, and became the subject of a lively correspondence in the press, to which Samuel Johnson contributed on behalf of another short-listed entrant, his friend John Gwynn. There were also entries from William Chambers and John Smeaton, the engineer. The debate was fuelled by the publication of a pamphlet, Observations on Bridge-Building (1760), by one Publicus, who, if not Mylne himself, must certainly have worked with his close collaboration. The pamphlet condemned every entry except Mylne's, which it praised extravagantly. In February 1760 the committee decided in favour of Mylne's design, a remarkable achievement then confirmed by his appointment as surveyor to oversee the construction." The bridge opened in 1769.
- Location
- Not on display
- Acquisition date
- 1868
- Department
- Prints and Drawings
- Registration number
- 1868,0808.4128
