James II, Prince James, and Louis XIV compared to the Three Kings of an Epiphany play, outside the Hôtel des Invalides in Paris. Etching by R. de Hooghe and letterpress, 1689.

  • Hooghe, Romeyn de, 1645-1708.
Date:
[1689]
Reference:
2136968i
  • Pictures

About this work

Description

According to Muller, a satire on King James II as he arrived at the court of Saint-Germain on 6 January 1689, the feast of Epiphany. Behind, a square outside the Hôtel des Invalides in Paris, with the entrance portal to the hospital on the far left. Through the door come Mary of Modena (no. 2, called Belemperia) with her ladies-in-waiting carrying the young Prince James, wearing a paper crown. She embraces King Louis XIV, who is wearing a suit of armour and a paper crown, and resting one foot on an upside-down globe showing France, Switzerland, Germany and the Low Countries

In the right foreground, James II wearing a hat of Three Kings' Day, pilgrims' shells and a lantern is being given a hand by a Jesuit (his confessor Father Petre, according to Muller) who draws him towards Louis XIV. In the background, three sledges arrive, the first sledge out of control with horses breaking free, the driver falling off, and his torch setting fire to the hospital (referred to in the lettering as the fall of Phaeton)

Publication/Creation

[The Netherlands] : [publisher not identified], [1689]

Physical description

1 print : etching, with letterpress ; platemark 38.4 x 37.7 cm, image and letterpress 53 x 37.7 cm

Lettering

La feste de trois rois, aux Invalides. Ha Belemperia, van herten wellekom … Al maken se sulken boehaey van haar Drie Coningen Feeft. Below the etching, three columns of letterpress containing a key to eleven numbered figures in Dutch verses

References note

F. Muller, De nederlandsche geschiedenis in platen, part 1, Amsterdam: Frederik Muller, 1870, no. 2761
British Museum, catalogue of political and personal satires, no. 1212

Reference

Wellcome Collection 2136968i

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