The Affrighted Centaur, & Lion Britanique

This is the last of six prints from the New Pantheon of Democratic Mythology portraying Whig statesmen as figures from popular mythology; in this case, the Duke of Bedford as a centaur chased by a British Lion. For more about the series in general, see my commentary on the frontispiece to the New Pantheon of Democratic Mythology.

In classical mythology, the centaur was half man and half horse usually portrayed as semi-barbaric. Bedford was known as a horse breeder and kept a stable of horses designed for the turf, so it is appropriate to portray him as both a jockey and half-horse himself. In the House of Lords, he was a consistent supporter of Whig and pro-French causes which helps to account for his tri-color shirt and jockey's cap.

One of those causes was that of Arthur O'Connor who was accused of high treason for conspiring with the French to invade Ireland and establish a beachhead for a subsequent attack on Britain. Bedford's brother, John, was one of a number of prominent Whigs who served as a character witness for O'Connor in May of 1798, and was conspicuously embarrassed when a few months later in August O'Connor admitted his guilt. Bedford himself was further associated with the whole fiasco when his friend and supporter Lord Thanet was accused of being part of a plot to spirit O'Connor away at the close of the trial, before O'Connor could be re-arrested on separate charges. Bedford tried to get Thanet released on bail, but was ultimately unsuccessful.

The theme of a horse frightened by a lion was a frequent subject of the British painter, George Stubbs, and Gillray would have had ample opportunities to see one of the 17 versions of the theme that Stubbs produced in the 1760s and 1770s. Having portrayed Fox fleeing from Parliament over the embarassment of the O'Connor affair, it was not a great stretch for Gillray to portray Bedford in similar flight. And if Bedford were portrayed as half-horse, Gillray could satirize Bedford and parody Stubbs at the same time by having Bedford fleeing from an angry British lion.

Sources and Reading

• Commentary from the British Museum on The Affrighted Centaur, & Lion Britanique.
• Draper Hill, Mr. Gillray The Caricaturist, 1965, p. 81n.
• "Centaur," Wikipedia
• "Francis Russell, 5th Duke of Bedford," Wikipedia
• Thomas Wright and R.H. Evans, Historical and Descriptive Account of the Caricatures of James Gillray #235
• Thomas Wright and Joseph Grego, The Works of James Gillray, the Caricaturist; With the History of His Life and Times p. 259.

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