works

Galleries and Reading Room

Library

Wellcome Café

Wellcome Kitchen

Wellcome Shop

To make your visit as safe and enjoyable as possible, you’ll need to follow our safety measures inside our venue, including wearing a face covering unless you’re exempt. Find out how we're keeping you safe. You no longer need to book a ticket to enter the museum or library.

We’re undertaking research with website visitors to find out some more about you and what you thought about your visit. This survey will take less than 10 minutes to complete. Thank you for your time!

What brought you to our website today?

1 print : lithograph ; image 31.6 x 26 cm

A fortune-teller reading the fortune of a young couple. Lithograph by L. Noël, 1830, after M. Gérard.

1 print : lithograph, with watercolour ; image 16.3 x 19 cm

A female barber lathering the face of a nervous man. Coloured lithograph by Langlumé after E.J. Pigal, 1825.

1 print : lithograph, with watercolour ; sheet 22 x 30.4 cm

Death pays a visit to a baron. Lithograph by Langlumé after Jean Grandville.

The physician advocating leeches is either a portrait or a caricature of François-Joseph-Victor Broussais. He is shown tearing up a prescription recommending different therapies (bloodletting, a purgative vomit, and some good wine)

Moeurs parisiennes

A group of fashionable physicians gathered around a sick patient listen to one of their number proclaiming the virtue of leeches. Coloured lithograph by Langlumé after E.J. Pigal, 1824.

1 print : lithograph, with watercolour ; image and text 16 x 19 cm

Three lecherous men gather round a pretty street seller, admiring her rather than her wares. Coloured lithograph by Langlumé after E. Pigal.

Jean Nicolas Marjolin. Lithograph by Langlumé after A. Chazal.

The print depicts the government of France under Louis-Philippe as a diabolical chemical laboratory, producing new laws at every opportunity to counter the freedom of the press. The 'loi de cautionnement' was one such law, which meant that political journals (including Philipon and Aubert's caricature journals) "had to deposit substantial amounts of money against convictions for offence to the king or government" (Wechsler, p. 67). As the caricaturists grew more wily, so the government grew more frustrated, and heavier fines and a stamp tax were introduced. These are among the papers being spirited out of the flask in this print. Also produced by the 'infernal laboratory' are notices for the seizure of certain publications and medals and honours for the king's friends. A bayonet end also falls out of the funnel, revealing the more physical aspects of the repression. The foremost devil bears resemblance to the comte d'Argout, a minister of the time. The other devil resembles Louis-Philippe (Lethève and Gardey, loc. cit.). Two years later, 'La caricature' was forced to close due to the combined effects of devastating fines and periods of imprisonment for Philipon and his illustrators

1 print : lithograph ; image 19.3 x 24.9 cm

Two devils in a laboratory produce statutes with the help of a genie; showing the repressive nature of the government of France under Louis-Philippe, especially concerning the freedom of the press. Lithograph by E. Le Poittevin, 1831.

Voyage pour l'eternité

1 print : lithograph, with watercolour ; sheet 22.2 x 30.4 cm.

Two young men are approached by a prostitute: she is a clothed skeleton holding a made-up mask in front of her face, representing syphilis. Lithograph by J.J. Grandville, 1830.

The album in which the print appears has text explaining this strange scene: the three men are afflicted with wens ('loupes') and the surrounding images establish correspondances and puns with these excrescences. The writer explains how a botanical garden is the ideal place to observe analogies to the wen in nature; it is here that 'tubercolic nature flourishes with all its variety and caprices'. These three men are naturalists who are looking through magnifying-glasses (in French, also 'loupes') at round, wen-like flowers. A man carries 'one of those culinary wens that have come to be called melons'. A child holds a bulging puppet and plays with a ball

Album comique

1 print : lithograph, with watercolour ; image 17.1 x 21.5 cm.

In a garden, men with wens look through magnifying glasses at round flowers. Coloured lithograph by Langlumé after E.J. Pigal, 1823.

1 print : lithograph, with watercolour ; sheet 22.7 x 44.9 cm

Wellcome uses cookies.

More filters

Active filters:

A fortune-teller reading the fortune of a young couple. Lithograph by L. Noël, 1830, after M. Gérard.

A female barber lathering the face of a nervous man. Coloured lithograph by Langlumé after E.J. Pigal, 1825.

Death pays a visit to a baron. Lithograph by Langlumé after Jean Grandville.

A group of fashionable physicians gathered around a sick patient listen to one of their number proclaiming the virtue of leeches. Coloured lithograph by Langlumé after E.J. Pigal, 1824.

Three lecherous men gather round a pretty street seller, admiring her rather than her wares. Coloured lithograph by Langlumé after E. Pigal.

Jean Nicolas Marjolin. Lithograph by Langlumé after A. Chazal.

Two devils in a laboratory produce statutes with the help of a genie; showing the repressive nature of the government of France under Louis-Philippe, especially concerning the freedom of the press. Lithograph by E. Le Poittevin, 1831.

Two young men are approached by a prostitute: she is a clothed skeleton holding a made-up mask in front of her face, representing syphilis. Lithograph by J.J. Grandville, 1830.

In a garden, men with wens look through magnifying glasses at round flowers. Coloured lithograph by Langlumé after E.J. Pigal, 1823.

A voyager encounters Death. Lithograph by Langlumé after Jean Grandville.

Stay in the know

Wellcome collection

Finding us:

Opening times:

Today's opening times

Wellcome uses cookies.

Search the collections

More filters

Active filters:

A fortune-teller reading the fortune of a young couple. Lithograph by L. Noël, 1830, after M. Gérard.

A female barber lathering the face of a nervous man. Coloured lithograph by Langlumé after E.J. Pigal, 1825.

Death pays a visit to a baron. Lithograph by Langlumé after Jean Grandville.

A group of fashionable physicians gathered around a sick patient listen to one of their number proclaiming the virtue of leeches. Coloured lithograph by Langlumé after E.J. Pigal, 1824.

Three lecherous men gather round a pretty street seller, admiring her rather than her wares. Coloured lithograph by Langlumé after E. Pigal.

Jean Nicolas Marjolin. Lithograph by Langlumé after A. Chazal.

Two devils in a laboratory produce statutes with the help of a genie; showing the repressive nature of the government of France under Louis-Philippe, especially concerning the freedom of the press. Lithograph by E. Le Poittevin, 1831.

Two young men are approached by a prostitute: she is a clothed skeleton holding a made-up mask in front of her face, representing syphilis. Lithograph by J.J. Grandville, 1830.

In a garden, men with wens look through magnifying glasses at round flowers. Coloured lithograph by Langlumé after E.J. Pigal, 1823.

A voyager encounters Death. Lithograph by Langlumé after Jean Grandville.

Stay in the know

Wellcome collectionWellcome Collection

Finding us:

Opening times:

Today's opening times

Wellcome collection