Some of the main inhabitants of the Moon: royalty, bishopric and judiciary

WILLIAM HOGARTH (1697-1764)

London, 1724.

Edition of Baldwin, Cradock & Joy, 1822.

Etching and burin.

Ref.: Paulson, 56.

Good condition. With margins.

In the artistic and literary tradition, imagining the worlds and inhabitants of the Moon is an exercise in rethinking our own world. A game that was not always innocent, since the lunar utopia was often a pretext to question or criticize earthly affairs.

In this engraving by William Hogarth, the great English satirist, he makes fun of royalty, episcopate and justice, through some crazy selenites, which reflect in his physiognomy the vices of his earthly peers. The king has a coin per head, the judge a hammer and the bishop a mouth harp, known in English as a “jew’s harp.” The latter operates with a rope the lever of a machine that expels money into the Church’s coffers.