Artist/ Group/Tribe, etc.
James Gillray (1756 - 1815) British Caricaturist and Printmaker. ''The cow-pock,-or-The wonderful effects of the new inoculation! - Vide - the Publications of ye Anti-Vaccine Society.''
Medium, time frame
Hand colored etching with aquatint.
Symbolism, iconography
The image primarily depicts the English physician Edward Jenner (1749-1823) who was one of the first physicians to demonstrate how immunity could be granted through the inoculation of certain diseases. In this case, the image shows the inoculation of patients with cowpox to prevent smallpox. In Europe, over 400,000 people died annually from the disease, and it was devastating to those previously unexposed to the virus in other parts of the globe.
Historical context
James Gillray trained under an engraver and later attended the Academy to hone his skills as an artist. An early interest in theatre grants his style a gestural and energetic aspect. Artists like Henry William Bunbury and Thomas Rowlandson set the precedent for caricature art in England, inspired by Italian prints brought back by tourists from Italy who were called ‘macaronis.’ As such, caricature, as a representational art form. could capture the likeness of individuals. However, it was still considered a lower form of art in comparison to portrait or landscape painting. Gillray mostly executed prints that were related to society, but also political caricatures, and became very well known for the satirical works that he produced.
Socio-cultural context and influences
The image represents patients before and after their inoculation, with medical accoutrements of questionable integrity. Gillray’s grotesque and expressive style lends itself well to the subject matter, which reflects the climate of scepticism and opposition towards inoculation. Vaccination, as such, was denounced as perilous and unclean due to the bovine origins of the inoculating disease. The image especially relays the fantastical imagination of the procedure’s consequences, including mutation, distortion and the risks of ‘contaminating’ people with animal influences.
Significance (elements of art/ principles of design)
The image represents London’s Smallpox and Inoculation Hospital at St. Pancras. Jenner himself incises the arm of a woman, to be inoculated from the contents of a bucket labelled “Vaccine Pock hot from ye Cow.” The image of the golden calf on the frame behind them reinforces the perceived absurdity of vaccines, while those who are already inoculated experience monstrous and painful eruptions of cows from all parts of the body, including the eyes, hands, faces and mouths of the patients. The ‘infected’ patients are illustrated in a typically caricaturist style, with exaggerated features and gestures, while the patient in the centre, not yet affected, retains normal features but an expression gripped with fear, lending suspense to the image.
Author(s): Christina Olszewski
Citations:
Carpenter, Sandra. "The cow-pock,-or-The wonderful effects of the new inoculation!" The Morgan Library & Museum. Published February 24, 2021. https://www.themorgan.org/blog/cow-pock-or-wonderful-effects-new-inoculation
“Object: The Cow-Pock-or-the Wonderful Effects of the New Inoculation!” The British Museum. Accessed December 16 2024. https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/P_1851-0901-1091
Jim Sherry, “Biography: James Gillray.” Published October 08 2023. https://www.james-gillray.org/bio1.html
Sodermann, Morten. “Celebrities, Cows and Contagious Ideas about Vaccines.” Scandinavian Journal of Public Health 46, no. 2 (2018): 189–93. https://www.jstor.org/stable/48615058.