Although most of James Gillray’s (1757-1815) work was related to
life and politics in London, dealing with politicians and royalty,
we have one print by him relating to life here in Bath. Phillip
Thicknesse was a well-known, notoriously unpleasant local resident,
mercilessly caricatured by Gillray.
This print is one of Gillray’s greatest and most complex works.
It may have been influenced by Goya’s famous etching "The Sleep
of Reason Produces Monsters", and more generally, it is a
parody of the conventions of formal oil paintings, in which
gentlemen are portrayed in their studies, depicted as learned and
serious, surrounded by books.