'The political-banditti assailing the saviour of India'

Sittersback to top

• Edmund Burke (1729 or 1730-1797), Statesman. Sitter associated with 103 portraits.
• Charles James Fox (1749-1806), Whig statesman. Sitter associated with 299 portraits.
• Frederick North, 2nd Earl of Guilford (1732-1792), Prime Minister. Sitter associated with 63 portraits.
• Warren Hastings (1732-1818), Governor-General of India. Sitter associated with 46 portraits.

Artistsback to top

• James Gillray (1756-1815), Caricaturist. Artist associated with 881 portraits, Sitter in 7 portraits.
• William Holland (active 1782-1802), Book and printseller. Artist associated with 11 portraits.

This portraitback to top

The impeachment of Warren Hastings, Governor General of India (1773-1784), was the subject of many caricatures over the seven years of his trial. In 1786 Edmund Burke, one of the three banditti of this print, moved to impeach Warren Hastings on charges of corruption, maladministration and extortion. For Burke, Hastings came to symbolise British abuses in India. His speeches and writings characterised him as power-mad, driven by greed, a man intent on plundering the continent: 'He is a captain general of iniquity - thief - tyrant - robber - cheat - sharper - swindler. We call him these names, and are sorry that the English language does not afford terms adequate to the enormity of his offences.' Here Gillray barely caricatures Hastings, seating him on a camel, besieged by the figures of Fox, Burke and North. Burke is grotesquely thin and wears the Jesuit biretta by which Gillray signalled his ongoing support for the emancipation of Irish Catholics. Hastings was ultimately acquitted but his impeachment, which lasted from 1788 to 1795, was the longest political trial in history and brought the defendant to financial ruin in the process.

Subjects & Themesback to top

• Eyeglasses and spectacles
• Gillray in Focus
• Swords and shields
• Transport and vehicles