These images are provided for non-commercial use under a Creative Commons License (BY-NC-ND). To license a high resolution version, please contact our image library who will discuss fees, terms and waivers.
Download this imageCreative commons explained - what it means, how you can use our's and other people's content.
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
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)
This page can be cited in the Harvard Bibliographic style using the text below:
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
To cite this page on Wikipedia you can use this code snippet:
{{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}}
To call these data via our API (remember this needs to be authenticated) you can use this code snippet:
https://collection.beta.fitz.ms/api/v1/images/media-218271
To use this as a simple code embed, copy this string:
<div class="text-center"> <figure class="figure"> <img src="https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/imagestore/pdp/pdp82/large_P_14857_R_1_amt49_201908_dc2.jpg" alt="Venus turn'd Proctor" class="img-fluid" /> <figcaption class="figure-caption text-info">Venus turn'd Proctor, British School</figcaption> </figure> </div>
Updates about future exhibitions and displays, family activities, virtual events & news. You'll be the first to know...