King Louis XIV receives an enema while sitting on a globe of the earth, thus besmearing it with ordure; around him, chaos reigns; symbolising the events following the Protestant rebellions of 1674 including the flight of the royal family from England in 1689. Engraving by R. de Hooghe, c. 1689.

1689

1 print : etching ; image 32.6 x 38.5 cm

Les monarches tombants ... Lettering on banner in middle: "Sanctiss 7 P P innenfelim vant paaps complot R.P. Gartner auteur vant poeder verrat S Balthasar Gerars moordenar van P Willem I S. Ravaill...c. ...ordenaar van K Henr...4 J. Clement van K Henrik 3". Lettering on clyster: "Klister ...ls int jaar 1674". Lettering on hoof-trodden book: "... hereticis non est rabenda fides"

For information on this print, see: Laurinda S. Dixon, 'Some penetrating insights: the imagery of enemas in art', in Art Journal, Fall 1993, vol. 52, no. 3, pp. 28-35. See also Thomas Wright, 'A history of caricature and grotesque in literature and art'. London : Virtue, 1864

Wellcome Collection 17522i