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Venus turn'd Proctor, British School

Image attached to P.14857-R

An image of Venus turn'd Proctor. Unknown British printmaker. Sledge, Sarah, publisher. Satirical print. A scene in a picture gallery contained within an etched border. A man in academic gown and bands and wearing a wig stands in a pose adopted from the Venus de Medici. A boy to his left holds out a dead cat which he has apparently just taken from a basket containing arrows on the floor in front of him. A halberd leans against the wall at centre right, a small bonnet speared upon its spike (the spoils of a Cambridge Proctor). On the wall are three framed pictures with titles beneath, from left to right: 'The Gentleman / and Scholar / United', 'Dead Game', a still life of two books, the Bible and 'University Statutes', from which projects a pair of clerical bands inscribed "6s 8d". An open pamphlet with the books is inscribed: 'A Sermon preached at Wisbech assizes before'. Three prints pinned beneath each picture can all be identified as satires published by Sarah Sledge, from left to right: 'The Bear, the Louse and Religion a Fable', 'Venus turn'd Proctor' and 'The Justice in the Suds'. Etched on the plate in the lower margin, a poem in three verses begins at lower left and continues at lower right: 'O Venus Beauty of the Skies, / To whom a thousand Temples rise, / Gayly false in gentle Smiles,- / In Mathematicks he was greater / Than Tycho Brake, or Erra Pater: / For he, by Geometrick Scale, / Cou'd take the Size of Pots of Ale; / Resolve by Sines & Tangents, straight; / If Bread or Butter wanted weight; / He knew What's What, & that's as high / As Metaphysick Wit can fly; / All lov'd him well, who knew his Fame, / And sent him Cats, instead of Game.'. At the centre of the lower margin, the title is etched within a double-edged border above and below: 'Venus turn'd P--ct-r'. The price is etched at lower left: 'Price 1s = 6d'. The publisher's details are etched at lower right: 'London publish'd by Mrs Sledge Henrietta Street / Covent Garden'. Etching on laid paper, height 175 m

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Venus turn'd Proctor. Unknown British printmaker. Sledge, Sarah, publisher. Satirical print. A scene in a picture gallery contained within an etched border. A man in academic gown and bands and wearing a wig stands in a pose adopted from the Venus de Medici. A boy to his left holds out a dead cat which he has apparently just taken from a basket containing arrows on the floor in front of him. A halberd leans against the wall at centre right, a small bonnet speared upon its spike (the spoils of a Cambridge Proctor). On the wall are three framed pictures with titles beneath, from left to right: 'The Gentleman / and Scholar / United', 'Dead Game', a still life of two books, the Bible and 'University Statutes', from which projects a pair of clerical bands inscribed "6s 8d". An open pamphlet with the books is inscribed: 'A Sermon preached at Wisbech assizes before'. Three prints pinned beneath each picture can all be identified as satires published by Sarah Sledge, from left to right: 'The Bear, the Louse and Religion a Fable', 'Venus turn'd Proctor' and 'The Justice in the Suds'. Etched on the plate in the lower margin, a poem in three verses begins at lower left and continues at lower right: 'O Venus Beauty of the Skies, / To whom a thousand Temples rise, / Gayly false in gentle Smiles,- / In Mathematicks he was greater / Than Tycho Brake, or Erra Pater: / For he, by Geometrick Scale, / Cou'd take the Size of Pots of Ale; / Resolve by Sines & Tangents, straight; / If Bread or Butter wanted weight; / He knew What's What, & that's as high / As Metaphysick Wit can fly; / All lov'd him well, who knew his Fame, / And sent him Cats, instead of Game.'. At the centre of the lower margin, the title is etched within a double-edged border above and below: 'Venus turn'd P--ct-r'. The price is etched at lower left: 'Price 1s = 6d'. The publisher's details are etched at lower right: 'London publish'd by Mrs Sledge Henrietta Street / Covent Garden'. Etching on laid paper, height 175 m

Image data

  • Accession Number: P.14857-R
  • Photograph copyright © The Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge.
  • Aperture: f/14.0
  • Focal length: 63
  • Camera: GFX 50S
  • Photographer name: Amy Jugg
  • Image height: 890 pixels
  • Image width: 1024 pixels
  • Processed with: Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 5.0 (Windows)
  • Filesize: 184.48kB
  • Exposure time: 1/60
  • ISO Speed: 100
  • Fnumber: 14/1
  • Captured: 2019:08:08 02:58:19

Key words

18th Century academia academics boys British School cats clothes clothing costume culture English etching Fitz_PDP Georgian gown grey wig male powdered wig print Sarah Sledge satire satiric satirical social commentary society Venus wigs

Colours in this image

rgb(222,200,173), rgb(96,82,61), rgb(150,129,103), rgb(182,161,134), rgb(172,147,121), rgb(123,116,93), rgb(132,108,75), rgb(196,172,148), rgb(196,172,139), rgb(132,100,76), rgb(176,156,116)

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The Fitzwilliam Museum (2024) "Venus turn'd Proctor, British School" Web page available at: https://collection.beta.fitz.ms/id/image/media-218271 Accessed: 2024-12-23 05:59:18

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{{cite web|url=https://collection.beta.fitz.ms/id/image/media-218271 |title=Venus turn'd Proctor, British School |author=The Fitzwilliam Museum|accessdate=2024-12-23 05:59:18|publisher=The University of Cambridge}}

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        <img src="https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/imagestore/pdp/pdp82/large_P_14857_R_1_amt49_201908_dc2.jpg"
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        <figcaption class="figure-caption text-info">Venus turn'd Proctor, British School</figcaption>
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