This tι̇ɱe we’ll take a look at something truly spectacular, both captivating and repugnant. Engravings of the British artist John Hamilton Mortι̇ɱer (1740-1779) are definitely capable of catching your eye. Francisco Goya showed us the monsters produced by the sleep of reason, but Mortι̇ɱer’s creatures sometι̇ɱes can beat even maestro’s fantasy.
Fig. 1. John Mortι̇ɱer with a student, self-portrait, c. 1765 (Wikipedia.org)
Fig. 2. The first act of ‘Hamlet,’ print made after Mortι̇ɱer’s design in 1785 (britishmuseum.org)
Fig. 3. Venus
This is the third tι̇ɱe that the Swedish Senju Shunga (1968) pays tribute to a classic work of art. Recently he finished a melancholic rendition of John Everett Millais’ Ophelia and a couple of years ago it was..
kissing a rose above the sleeping boy, illustration to ‘Kisses, a poetical translation of the Basia‘ by Joannes Secundus (London: John Bew, 1778, britishmuseum.org)
Fig. 4. Allegory of January and May, Illustration to Chaucer’s ‘Canterbury Tales‘ (Merchant’s Tale); print produced in 1787 after Mortι̇ɱer (britishmuseum.org)
Fig. 5. Frontispiece to Spenser’s ‘The Faerie Queene‘, Book IV, Canto X 50, from Bell’s Edition of “the Poets of Great Britain complete from Chaucer to Churchill“; Malbecco at right finding Hellenore sleeping with a satyr
In the second part of our Agostino Carracci ‘s ‘Lascivie’ series review, we’ll take a look at the rest nine prints concerning Greek mythology. Galatea/Venus The woɱan with a billowing..
. «She was astonishe’d with exceeding dreed/ And would have wak’d the Satyre by her side.» 1778, britishmuseum.org
Vita Brevis
John Mortι̇ɱer, who died for unknown reasons at the age of 38, left us a peculiar legacy. He was a British painter and printmaker depicting pastoral and battle scenes. Born in a wealthy family of a customs officer, Mortι̇ɱer began his fine arts studies at the Duke of Richmond’s Academy in London when he was seventeen. Then he enrolled at the St Martin’s Lane Academy, where his teachers were Cipriani, Robert Edge Pine, and Sir Joshua Reynolds. To the latter, Mortι̇ɱer would devote the set of 15 engravings depicting pastoral scenes, allegories, and sea monsters, which are involved in various activities. Being 19 years old, the artist won a prize for a study after Michelangelo. Since the 1760s, Mortι̇ɱer had exhibited his works regularly and became a member of the Society of Artists. Afterward, he was elected the president of this association. Mortι̇ɱer’s works can be distinguished by their explicated masculinity. His engravings often depict captivated women and brutal bandits. The theme of brutality was emphasized in the bestial engravings of the set devoted to Joshua Reynolds. Mortι̇ɱer produced the series in December 1778, when he was elected a member of the Royal Academy, founded and presided by Reynolds.
Fig. 6. ‘Pastoral’, fifteen etchings dedicated to Sir Joshua Reynolds, 1778, britishmuseum.org
Fig. 7. River God and Woɱan, print by Samuel Ireland after John Mortι̇ɱer, 1784 (britishmuseum.org)
Fig. 8. Bacchanalian scene, figures carrying a woɱan to left, one crowning her (britishmuseum.org)
Fig. 9. Griffin striding over skeleton of a lamb. 1770s (britishmuseum.org)
Fig. 10. ‘Banditti Returning,’ made by Robert Blyth after John Mortι̇ɱer, 1780 (britishmuseum.org)
Monstrous Activities
Though the prints of scary sea creatures, together with preparatory drawings, count nine or fewer pictures, they are still very entertaining to look at. Half-huɱans with expressive, somewhat Lovecraftian appearance live a tumultuous life: they wrestle against each other in the water, fight over beautiful maidens, copulate with them, and play panpipes in tι̇ɱe of rest. The prints have titles “Jealous monster,” “Revengeful monsters,” “Musical Monster,” and so on. There is the curious one among these titles, “Successful Monster” (fig. 16) The print depicts a monster going to kiss a nymph who doesn’t seem to resist. This scene proves that sometι̇ɱes tritons and satyrs didn’t have to be rapists. The striking contrast between fragile young women and marine beasts with their tails and scales inevitably attracts the viewer. Another interesting picture is a preparatory drawing for the print depicting two sleeping monsters, apparently, male and female (fig. 17). The scene is repulsive, yet strangely peaceful as if we looked at two resting lovers in an idyllic setting. Some of these prints indeed can be described as the ancient idyll seen by Goya.
Fig. 11. ‘Enraged Monster’ (well, he is rather satisfied with his victory, than enraged), fifteen etchings dedicated to Sir Joshua Reynolds, 1778, britishmuseum.org
Fig. 12. ‘Revengeful Monsters,’ fifteen etchings dedicated to Sir Joshua Reynolds, 1778, britishmuseum.org
Fig. 13. ‘Musical Monster,’ fifteen etchings dedicated to Sir Joshua Reynolds, 1778, britishmuseum.org
Fig. 14. ‘Jealous
A masterful image in which Harunobu seizes a moment of climactic tension when a jealous woɱan who spies on two lovers prepares to ruin their joy by slinging a snowball through the window. Betrayal We can assume..
monster,’ fifteen etchings dedicated to Sir Joshua Reynolds, 1778, britishmuseum.org
Fig. 15. Nymph pushing away a monster, fifteen etchings dedicated to Sir Joshua Reynolds, 1778, britishmuseum.org
Fig. 16. ‘Successful Monster,’ with another monster staring jealously behind them, fifteen etchings dedicated to Sir Joshua Reynolds, 1778, britishmuseum.org.
Fig. 17. ‘Sleeping monsters,’ preparatory drawing (britishmuseum.org)
Love-Making and War-Making
Speaking of John Mortι̇ɱer, it’s impossible not to mention the caricature part of his legacy. One of the most remarkable of Mortι̇ɱer’s caricatures is ‘A Trip to Cocks Heath,‘ published by William Humphrey in 1778. The picture represents the British village Coxheath turned into a military
In the catalogue of the British Museum this image has been aptly described as ‘Buggering the Russian’. Both protagonists are infantry soldiers (the Russian has a rifle with a bayonet) of respectively the..
camp during the American War
The first Sino-Japanese war (1 August 1894 – 17 April 1895) introduced a new character of erotic fantasy to the stage: the nurse. This was a professional woɱan whose job it was to touch men, and in some cases..
for Independence by the end of the 1770s. Even though masculinity was a leitmotif of the artist’s works, here we see the dominance of feminine libido. The print was allegedly inspired by Sheridan’s play “The Camp,” describing preparations of British people to defend their land against French invasion. The fact that Mortι̇ɱer was considered for election to the Royal Academy and worked on the 15 etchings of monsters and allegories at the tι̇ɱe of this print’s production, makes his authorship doubtful for some specialists, e. g. for Jim Sherry, who attributes it to James Gillray. Nevertheless, the piece has traces of the profound influence of Mortι̇ɱer’s pictures.
Fig. 18. ‘A Trip to Cocks Heath,’ 1778 (britishmuseum.org)