‘Lieut.Goverr. Gall-Stone, inspired by Alecto: or The Birth of Minverva’, 1790

Description

Mounted hand coloured etching and aquatint, entitled ‘LIEUT.GOVERR. GALL-STONE, inspired by ALECTO; _ or _ The Birth of MINERVA.’, designed and etched by James Gillray, and published by H. Humphrey in 1790.

This is one of Gillray’s greatest and most complex works with many references to the life and work of Philip Thicknesse (1719-1792), a British author and eccentric. The title refers to Thicknesse’s recommendation in his memoirs of large doses of laudanum, combined with exercise on a trotting horse, to cure gallstones.

He claimed in his memoirs that he was the best of all doctors in England since he had suffered so much himself. Thicknesse is shown seated and writing at a table. He pauses to listen to Alecto, who, rising from the jaws of hell, whispers in his ear.

The depiction of Alecto as his muse implies that Gillray believed that Thicknesse’s writing was inspired by malice or anger. Emerging from the top of his head in a cloud of steam is Minerva, the godess of wisdom, who shoots into the ai