Tales of Wonder!

James Gillray|Hannah Humphrey

February 1, 1802 · Hand-colored etching and aquatint · Drawings and Prints

Gillray uses four well-dressed women seated around a table to parodiy the current literary taste for Gothic novels. Within a luxuriously furnished room, the figure at right reads from "The Monk" (a sensational tale by Matthew Gregory Lewis published in 1796), with horror and fascination evident on the faces of her companions. A watch hanging from the reader's waist gives the time at 12.45 pm. The mood is heightened by grotesque ornaments on the chimney-piece–a gorgon, a skeleton surrounded by snakes, and a dragon, and the dramatic plot echoed by a relief below the mantle showing of Pluto carrying off Persephone, and a picture on the wall of a knight abducting a woman.

Artist

James Gillray|Hannah Humphrey

Date

February 1, 1802

Medium

Hand-colored etching and aquatint

Department

Drawings and Prints

Credit line

Gift of Jill Spalding, 2022