Cymon and Iphigenia

James Gillray

1796 · Watercolor, pen and black ink over graphite · Drawings and Prints

Gillray here parodies a tale found in Boccaccio's Decameron and Dryden's Fables. While walking in the countryside, Cymon, a "fool of nature," encounters the sleeping Iphigenia, whose beauty provokes his exaggerated delight. Unlike the maiden of those stories, Gillray's sleeper is no elegant beauty. Nor is there any indication that love will reform her admirer's brutish character. Indeed, Cymon's lecherous expression suggests the opposite. The artist likely intended a political message, using Iphigenia's dark skin and African features to refer to contemporary debate over the slave trade. In 1796, the British Parliament voted down a bill to outlaw the trade and, since Gillray's Cymon is shown about to succumb to his baser instincts, the image likely criticizes Britain's politicians for doing the same.

Artist

James Gillray

Date

1796

Medium

Watercolor, pen and black ink over graphite

Department

Drawings and Prints

Credit line

Purchase, Malcolm Hewitt Wiener Foundation Gift, 2002