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1 of 253523 objects
The Bad Taste of the Town (Masquerades and Operas) 1724
Etching and engraving | 15.5 x 17.7 cm (sheet of paper) | RCIN 811358
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A satirical print ridiculing the 'reigning follies' of fashionable London. At the centre is a waste-paper hawker, whose barrow is filled with the great names of British literature - Shakespeare, Dryden, 'Congrav' [William Congreve], Addison and Otway. A reference to 'Pasquin' (a figure associated with satire) has been scratched out - in subsequent impressions it would be replaced with Ben Jonson's name. To either side, crowds flock to entertainments in 'Bad Taste'. Among them are Burlington House in Piccadilly (sarcastically named the 'Accademy of Arts'), a conjuring display by the popular magician Isaac Fawkes and a masquerade, into which a crowd is ushered by a satyr and a fool. Italian opera is ridiculed in the figures of the fashionable opera singers Francesca Cuzzoni, Francesco Bernardi (Senesino) and Gaetano Berenstadt, who are shown on a large banner performing Handel's 'Flavio'. The verses at the foot of the sheet are printed from a separate plate.
Provenance
Purchased by Queen Victoria at the H.P. Standly sale (Christie's, 14 April 1845, lot. 1150)
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Creator(s)
(designer)(engraver)Acquirer(s)
Subject(s)
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Medium and techniques
Etching and engraving
Measurements
15.5 x 17.7 cm (sheet of paper)