Taking Physick
1800
19th century
28.5 cm x 22 cm (11 1/4 in. x 8 11/16 in.)
James Gillray
(London, 1757 - 1815, London)
Primary
Object Type:
print
Artist Nationality:
Europe, English
Medium and Support:
Etching and aquatint with hand-coloring
Credit Line:
Blanton Museum of Art, The University of Texas at Austin, The Karen G. and Dr. Elgin W. Ware, Jr. Collection, 2003
Accession Number:
2003.30
This is possibly the first in a series of five prints demonstrating the stages of illness and, more importantly, how the cure is often more agonizing than the sickness. The series includes: Taking Physick, Gentle Emetic, Brisk–Cathartic, Breathing the Vein, and Charming-well Again. Dr. Philip Syng Physick (1768-1837), the conceivable inspiration behind the print, was an American physician who studied under John Hunter in London in the 1790s.