An autopsy on an investor in the Dutch speculation boom of 1720 reveals that he had died of an excess of air, representing lack of value in the shares. Etching, 1720.

Date:
[1720?]
Reference:
17577i
Part of:
Groote tafereel der dwaasheid.
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Description

Five doctors conduct the autopsy: they open the abdomen to find the intestines, and two of them hold up bladders, containing only air. The left-most doctor points towards the sun, which is on the horizon. Under the table, a man (John Law) sets fire to the globe. He holds a sheet of paper in his hand which reads: 'Ik waag 'er de wereld aan'. A devil pumps a bellows full of 'wind-negotie' to destroy the world. To the left a boy representing Simplicity pours liquid upon the burning southern hemisphere. Towards the front of the scene a man sleeps in a cot; a sheet of paper rests upon him, reading: 'Om dat de schyn bedriegt, ben ik in slaap gewiegt'. To the left, a another investor is being blindfolded by the devil while monkeys steal his purse. In the distance, Bombario (the personification of the trade in over-valued shares) rides off on a winged hydra towards the sun: he is going to Vianen, a city open to people seeking refuge from bankruptcy

Publication/Creation

Amsterdam : G. Onder de Linden (?), [1720?]

Physical description

1 print : etching with engraved lettering ; platemark 27.5 x 27.3 cm

Lettering

Anatomie der wind-negotie of Bombario voor den drommel ... Verses in Dutch below the etching describe the event. This is the first verse: Een actie-heer, die d'actie-wind/ Had by scheeps-ladings ingeslagen,/ Leid hier nu stom, en doof, en blind, / En zonder ergens naar te vragen;/ geen wonder, want hy is van kant,/ Daar een van Hipokrates bazen,/ In't zoeken van zyn ingewand,/ Niets vind dan risten varkens-blazen,/ En oordeeld op zyn kunst gewis,/ Dat hy van wind gesturven is

References note

Frederik Muller, De nederlandsche geschiedenis in platen. Beredeneerde beschrijving van nederlandsche historieplaten, zinneprenten en historische kaarten, Amsterdam 1863, part 2, no. 3588 (53)
Not in: British Museum, Catalogue of political and personal satires, vol. 2, London 1954
Arthur H. Cole, The great mirror of folly (Het groote tafereel der dwaasheid). An economic-bibliographical study, Boston 1949, no. 53

Reference

Wellcome Collection 17577i

Notes

'Het groote tafereel der dwaasheid', Amsterdam, 1720, is a collection of literary and pictorial satires relating to the Dutch speculation bubble of 1720, which occurred simultaneously with the South Sea bubble and the Mississippi bubble involving John Law. This print is one of the many in that collection: see A.H. Cole, op. cit.

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