La chose impossible, ou la commission des finances telle qui

La chose impossible, ou la commission des finances telle quil la faudroit pour les bien restaurer. Print shows four bare-bottomed men, the ministers of finances, sitting around a table restoring their good health on the produce of other nations; as they consume the Eau de la Plata and Eau du Senegal, the Terre du Potosi en Sorbet and the Terre du Perou they excrete coins through holes in their chairs. On the left, another man urinates coins into a funnel in a box. This print may have counterrevolutionary overtones, suggesting that the Directory is deluding the people into believing that by continuing war and conquering other lands France will be able to restore its own financial health. The caption may suggest that it is as impossible to excrete wealth as it is to restore wealth through imperialist ventures. Date 1797. La chose impossible, ou la commission des finances telle quil la faudroit pour les bien restaurer. Print shows four bare-bottomed men, the ministers of finances, sitting around a table restoring their good health on the produce of other nations; as they consume the Eau de la Plata and Eau du Senegal, the Terre du Potosi en Sorbet and the Terre du Perou they excrete coins through holes in their chairs. On the left, another man urinates coins into a funnel in a box. This print may have counterrevolutionary overtones, suggesting that the Directory is deluding the people into believing that by continuing war and conquering other lands France will be able to restore its own financial health. The caption may suggest that it is as impossible to excrete wealth as it is to restore wealth through imperialist ventures. Date 1797

Picture No

10601791

Media ID

47464655

Size

3588px x 2878px (3.8MB)

Credit

Mary Evans / Library of Congress

Usage Restrictions

Editorial use only without prior approval