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Shakespeare – Sacrificed; or, The Offering to Avarice

June 20, 1789
Not on view
Between 1789 and 1805, the publisher John Boydell ran the Shakespeare Gallery, a popular London exhibition space financed by print subscriptions. When Boydell failed to hire Gillray to make prints for the project, the satirist reciprocated with this scathing parody of the scheme. Boydell appears as a high priest sacrificing the Bard’s writings to Avarice—a grinning figure with moneybags near a fool who fans the flames. Smoke obscures a famous memorial and then rises to support characters derived from paintings shown in the gallery. Bottom points to his magical ass’s head, and King Lear is given a crassly modern brick throne. Fearing reprisal, Gillray used a pseudonym in this rare early state. He substituted his real name when the print proved a success, coveted even by the artists it mocks.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Shakespeare – Sacrificed; or, The Offering to Avarice
  • Artist: James Gillray (British, London 1756–1815 London)
  • Publisher: James Aitken (British, active 1788–1801)
  • Subject: William Shakespeare (British, Stratford-upon-Avon 1564–1616 Stratford-upon-Avon)
  • Subject: John Boydell (British, Dorrington, Shropshire 1720–1804 London)
  • Date: June 20, 1789
  • Medium: Etching and aquatint; undescribed state
  • Dimensions: image: 18 5/8 x 14 15/16 in. (47.3 x 37.9 cm)
    plate: 19 13/16 x 15 1/4 in. (50.3 x 38.8 cm)
    sheet: 21 15/16 x 17 3/8 in. (55.7 x 44.1 cm)
  • Classification: Prints
  • Credit Line: The Elisha Whittelsey Collection, The Elisha Whittelsey Fund, 1962
  • Object Number: 62.600.759
  • Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints

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