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Object Type
Museum number: 1868,0808.9619
Title: Object: Atlas; Object: Actieuse papiere Atlas naar de Mode...; Object: L'Atlas Actieux de Papier...; Series: Het Groote Tafereel der Dwaasheid
Description: A Dutch satire on the financial crisis in Paris in 1720, showing nine people holding spheres in the clouds above their heads; a starry sky and a waning moon behind. From left to right: a Dutch farmer a spade and a mole by his side; a servant in livery who claims that he will ride in a carriage while his master walks; Hercules in a lion's skin, his club at his feet with a cross-staff resting on it; a small boy; John Law, wearing rich clothing; a serving-maid; a Jewish dealer in old clothes; Bombario in harlequin dress carrying a slap-stick and a tray suspended from his neck; a well-dressed lady with broken swords and lances at her feet. In the top right corner is a hanging with an illustration of Hercules about to slay the hydra, set in a formal garden; at the top of the print an explanation of this scene draws a parallel between the many-headed hydra and the selfishness of many people. In front of the group, to left, a greyhound ignores a hare and runs off with a share certificate in its mouth. In the foreground is a wall, lettered with verses in Dutch and French, in the centre of which is an opening through which walks a winged infant with Time's hour-glass on his head and holding a bladder of wind. Engraved title at the top and Dutch inscriptions. 1720 Etching
School/style
Production date: 1720
Materials
Technique
Dimensions: Height: 284 millimetres; Width: 353 millimetres
$Inscriptions
Curator's comments: For another impression of the same broadside, see "Het Groote Tafereel Der Dwaasheid" , location 298.c.4 (Vol I; BM 1868-8-8-8620).; One of a collection of prints bound together in two volumes c.1721 known as 'Het Groote Tafereel der Dwaasheid'; for more information, see 1868,0808.9602.
Bibliographic references: Muller 1863-1882 / De Nederlandsche Geschiedenis in Platen. Beredeneerde Beschrijving van Nederlandsche Historieplaten (3543); BM Satires / Catalogue of Political and Personal Satires in the Department of Prints and Drawings in the British Museum (1648)
Location: Not on display
Subjects: satire; commerce/finance; servant/domestic worker; farmer/farm worker; child; jewish; commedia dell'arte; mammal; allegory/personification; classical deity
Associated names: Representation of: John Law; Representation of: Herakles/Hercules; Associated with: Atlas; Representation of: Bombario
Associated places: Associated with: Netherlands
Associated events: Associated Event: Financial Bubble 1720
Acquisition name
Acquisition date: 1868
Department: Prints and Drawings
Registration number: 1868,0808.9619

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