Théologie a la Turque.-The Pale of the Church of Mahomet. . .
This is one of six prints from the series, Egyptian Sketches, created by Gillray in response to the French invasion of Egypt by Napoleon. For more information about the series as a whole, see my commentary on the title page, Egyptian Sketches.
[March 12, 1799]
© Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University
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It shows two French savants in the custody of four members of the Church of Mahomet being introduced to the "Theologie a la Turque." One savant has already been subjected to this primitive but effective form of Turkish persuasion; the second is about to receive the same treatment.
Like many other Gillray caricatures, this squirm-producing print is based on a visual/verbal pun. "Pale" has two related but quite different meanings, both of which are invoked here. On the one hand, "pale" refers to a circumscribed area or territory. This meaning survives in modern discourse in the phrase "beyond the pale." meaning outside the realm of acceptable behavior. The subtitle, "The Pale of the Church of Mahomet," then, suggests that the realm of Turkish theology is territory proper to Turks and therefore off-limits to French philosophers and theologians.
But "pale" also means a wooden stake or pole. That meaning is on prominent display in the visual and adds a second meaning to the subtitle: this is the physical stake or pale of the Church of Mahomet. And it is obviously being used to convince French non-believers, if not to convert to the Muslim faith (as the sore-bottomed Frenchman in the background did when he exchanged his hat for a Turkish turban), at least to change his mind about "L'Imposture de Mahomet" and admit that the theology of the Turks has a point.
Sources and Reading
- Commentary from the British Museum on 'Théologie a la Turque.-The Pale of the Church of Mahomet.
- "French campaign in Egypt and Syria," Wikipedia
- The Napoleonic Invasion of Egypt
- Thomas Wright and R.H. Evans, Historical and Descriptive Account of the Caricatures of James Gillray #225
- Thomas Wright and Joseph Grego, The Works of James Gillray, the Caricaturist; With the History of His Life and Times p. 257.
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