Pie-Us Ecstacy – or Godliness (the Itinerant Preachers) Great Gain

Thomas Rowlandson British
 Publisher Alexander Beugo British
 Subject William Huntington British

Not on view

Rowlandson created this grotesque image of greed to condemn false piety. It portrays William Huntington, a wealthy, eccentric Nonconformist preacher who began life as a coal-heaver. He is shown in a state of ecstasy brought on not by a heavenly vision but by thoughts of venison and mulligatawny soup. Verses below parody an epitaph that Huntington wrote in anticipation of his own demise, in which he declared himself to be an unrecognized prophet. Rowlandson’s less complimentary version states: "Here lies W. H. once a heaver of Coals/ but he left his employ, and turned saver of Souls/ And he changed for the better too, fifty times o'er/ For instead of a Coal-cart–he kept Coach and four."

Pie-Us Ecstacy – or Godliness (the Itinerant Preachers) Great Gain, Thomas Rowlandson (British, London 1757–1827 London), Etching

This image cannot be enlarged, viewed at full screen, or downloaded.

Open Access

As part of the Met's Open Access policy, you can freely copy, modify and distribute this image, even for commercial purposes.

API

Public domain data for this object can also be accessed using the Met's Open Access API.

Pie-Us Ecstacy – or Godliness (the Itinerant Preachers) Great Gain, Thomas Rowlandson (British, London 1757–1827 London), Etching
Pie-Us Ecstacy – or Godliness (the Itinerant Preachers) Great Gain, Thomas Rowlandson (British, London 1757–1827 London), Etching

This artwork is meant to be viewed from right to left. Scroll left to view more.