Stock Id :21227

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A satire on the suppression of the Jesuit Order

ENGELBRECHT, Martin.

[An anti-Jesuit satire dedicated to their arch-enemy in Portugal, the Marquis of Pombal.]
Augsburg, c.1773. 500 x 345mm, with wide margins.

Some repairs to creasing,

The house of the Society of Jesus collapses having been hit by lightning bolts sent by allegorical figures including Justice. The Jesuits are beset with blocks of stones bearing the names of various states from which the order had been expelled, including Portugal and their colonies, England, Venice and Lithuania (in 1773). In the rubble is a nine-headed dragon, symbol of sin and wickedness, and many snakes.
The dedication is to Sebastião José de Carvalho e Melo, prime minister of Portugal, who began the suppression by expelling the Jesuits from the Portuguese Empire in 1759, frustrated by their opposition to the Enlightenment. He was followed by France, the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, Malta, Parma and the Spanish Empire. In the face of opposition from so many Catholic countries, Pope Clement XIV issued a papal brief on 21 July 1773, formally supressing the Society.
Under the image is verse from Ovid's Metamorphoses, in Latin and Italian, drawing a comparison with the ' 'Gigantomachia' the war between Jupiter and the Giants, in which he strikes them with lightning as punishment for their impious attempt to scale the heavens.


Stock ID : 21227

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INDEX

Stock Id :21227

Download Image

A satire on the suppression of the Jesuit Order

ENGELBRECHT, Martin.

[An anti-Jesuit satire dedicated to their arch-enemy in Portugal, the Marquis of Pombal.]
Augsburg, c.1773. 500 x 345mm, with wide margins.

Some repairs to creasing,

The house of the Society of Jesus collapses having been hit by lightning bolts sent by allegorical figures including Justice. The Jesuits are beset with blocks of stones bearing the names of various states from which the order had been expelled, including Portugal and their colonies, England, Venice and Lithuania (in 1773). In the rubble is a nine-headed dragon, symbol of sin and wickedness, and many snakes.
The dedication is to Sebastião José de Carvalho e Melo, prime minister of Portugal, who began the suppression by expelling the Jesuits from the Portuguese Empire in 1759, frustrated by their opposition to the Enlightenment. He was followed by France, the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, Malta, Parma and the Spanish Empire. In the face of opposition from so many Catholic countries, Pope Clement XIV issued a papal brief on 21 July 1773, formally supressing the Society.
Under the image is verse from Ovid's Metamorphoses, in Latin and Italian, drawing a comparison with the ' 'Gigantomachia' the war between Jupiter and the Giants, in which he strikes them with lightning as punishment for their impious attempt to scale the heavens.


Stock ID : 21227

SOLD
To see similar items click here

Return To Listing




SOLD
To see similar items click here


Print