The Budget or John Bull Frightned [Frightened] out of his wits

Identify sitters

by Isaac Cruikshank, published by Samuel William Fores
hand-coloured etching, published 20 November 1796
10 1/8 in. x 14 3/4 in. (258 mm x 376 mm) paper size
Purchased, 2017
Reference Collection
NPG D47470

Artistsback to top

Isaac Cruikshank (1764-1811), Artist. Artist associated with 15 portraits.
Samuel William Fores (baptised 1761-1838), Printseller and publisher. Artist associated with 109 portraits.

Sittersback to top

John Bull (active 1712-present), Fictitious epitomist of Englishness and British imperialism. Sitter associated with 151 portraits. Identify
Edmund Burke (1729-1797), Statesman; orator; author. Sitter associated with 106 portraits. Identify
Thomas Erskine, 1st Baron Erskine (1750-1823), Lord Chancellor. Sitter associated with 69 portraits. Identify
Charles James Fox (1749-1806), Whig statesman. Sitter associated with 308 portraits. Identify
William Wyndham Grenville, 1st Baron Grenville (1759-1834), Prime Minister. Sitter associated with 70 portraits. Identify
James Maitland, 8th Earl of Lauderdale (1759-1839), Scottish politician and author of 'Inquiry into the Nature and Origin of Public Wealth'. Sitter associated with 37 portraits. Identify
Henry Dundas, 1st Viscount Melville (1742-1811), Statesman. Sitter associated with 82 portraits. Identify
William Pitt (1759-1806), Prime Minister. Sitter associated with 174 portraits. Identify
Richard Brinsley Sheridan (1751-1816), Dramatist and parliamentary orator. Sitter associated with 168 portraits. Identify
Hon. William Windham (1750-1810), Politician; Secretary at War. Sitter associated with 52 portraits. Identify

Placesback to top

Place made: United Kingdom: England, London (50 Piccadilly, London)

Subjects & Themesback to top

Events of 1796back to top

Current affairs

Birth of Princess Charlotte, only child of George, Prince of Wales and Princess Caroline whose marriage soon quickly and publicly degenerates.

Art and science

Fanny Burney publishes Camilla, one of several influential novels exploring social misunderstanding and the fashionable mode of sensibility.
Architect William Chambers completes the building of Somerset House.
Collector William Beckford, the richest man in England, begins construction of his gothic fantasy Fonthill Abbey.

International

Napoleon Bonaparte assumes command of the French armies in Italy and defeats the Austrians at Millesimo and the Piedmontese at Mondovi.
Arthur Wellesley, later Duke of Wellington, arrives in India as a colonel.
John Adams is elected President of the United States, defeating Thomas Jefferson by three votes.

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