DEN DOOR LIST en GEWELD AANGEVALLEN LEEUW. (The Lion Attacked by Cunning and Force.)

Date1780

MediumBlack and white etching

DimensionsOH: 13 1/4" x OW: 16 3/4"; Plate H: 7 1/2" x W:15 1/2"

Credit LineMuseum Purchase

Object number1960-81

DescriptionThe designer has placed caricatures of the nations engaged in the disputes on a rough map of Europe. Each is numbered and a full description is printed below the picture.
1. Dutch merchants who, although they desire restitution of goods lost during English naval attacks, realize that war with England may endanger their Far Eastern trade.
2. A Stadholder, representing the Dutch king, explains to the merchants that since he has tried to strengthen the nation's defenses, they must not be deluded into taking strong action against others.
3. Sir Joseph Yorke, the British ambassador to Holland, apologizes for the latest attack on Dutch shipping but warns that if they continue to supply arms to the enemy their actions will lead to more conflicts.
4. The Dutch lion, holding in his paw seven arrows symbolic of the United Provinces, has his eyes shielded by the hat of the French ambassador, while
5. an ex-Jesuit takes one arrow. The Frenchman hopes that the blinded animal, Holland, can be brought into the conflict against England; the Jesuit hopes the pope can restore Catholicism in Holland while the country's attention is distracted by other events.
6. Attired in a doublet, Spain points a spear at the Dutch lion. He realized that although the alliance may prove disadvantageous, it may lead to the return of Gibraltar and give him new power.
7. A Dutch minister of state laments the events that seem to be destroying his country, and
8. another leader watches a convoy bound for Portsmouth and wishes that England and Holland could remain friends so that Dutch vessels would not be converted to fighting ships.
9. A monk is hitched to an elaborate cart decorated with emblems of the Catholic Church. It carries a female, the "Whore of Babylon," an often used symbol for the church during the eighteenth century. The vignette represents the pope's attempts to regain a foothold in Holland while the country is in conflict with Protestant England.
ProvenanceEx coll: H. Dunscombe Colt. Other known copies: Halsey collection at Brown; New York Historical Society (they have the printed pamphlet to go along with these prints).