A Voluptuary Painting Analysis

James Gillray in 1792 painted a painting called A Voluptuary under the horrors of Digestion. A voluptuary is a person who gives into self indulgence in luxury or gratification of the senses. The Voluptuary painting is of a prince. The prince is sitting down in a chair by a table with a mess of food upon it. Also there are many things on the floor and many empty bottles of various liquids laying around. Now if people were to consider him as a king there are criteria he would have to meet. He would have to be good with money, would need to be a good role model, would need to be ambitious, and would have to be presentable. Because of these criteria he would not make a good king. The least important criteria is being ambitious. Ambitious means someone who sets goals and tries to accomplish them and does not wait for others to instruct them to do something. From this definition many can conclude that the prince is not utterly ambitious. Now looking at the picture people can see that there is a chamber pot behind him and is filled to capacity . If someone has a brimful chamber pot close to them it usually means that they are too lazy to get up and empty it. It could also mean that …show more content…
The prince did not meet any of the criteria that was given. The prince is not ambitious. He did not get up and change his overflowing chamber pot. The chamber pot was close to him which also shows that he didn't want to get up to go to the bathroom. Also the prince is not presentable. His clothes are too small for him and he is picking his teeth with his fork. This tells people that he does not have good manners and his clothes are too tight. The other criteria the prince does not meet is being good with money. The evidence shows us that he is a gambler and owes people money. All the evidence stated leads to the prince not being a great king. In conclusion, the prince in the Voluptuary painting would not be great leader or