Feeding the Animals – A Change of Diet!
Medium
Lithograph
Dimensions
Sheet: 11 7/8 × 17 5/8 in. (30.2 × 44.7 cm)
Classification
Prints
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
The Elisha Whittelsey Collection, The Elisha Whittelsey Fund, 2014
Accession Number
2014.757.5(44)
Rights
Public Domain
Tags
Art Historical Context
This 1839 lithograph, *Feeding the Animals – A Change of Diet!*, captures the lively world of British political satire during Queen Victoria’s early reign. Created by the renowned caricaturist John Doyle (known as “H.B.”) and printed by Alfred Ducôte for publisher Thomas McLean, the work uses the popular medium of lithography to deliver sharp commentary with fluid lines and expressive detail. The scene draws on the famous lion-tamer Isaac Van Amburgh’s performances before the young queen, transforming political figures into animals whose “diet” is being altered—likely alluding to shifting patronage and power under the Whig government of Lord Melbourne. Prominent politicians such as Lord John Russell, Viscount Palmerston, Daniel O’Connell, and others appear alongside Victoria herself, highlighting the intense public interest in court and parliamentary affairs at the time. Caricatures like this one served as an accessible form of news and opinion, allowing viewers to laugh at the foibles of the powerful while following debates over reform and royal influence. Today the print offers a vivid glimpse into 19th-century visual culture, where humor and symbolism helped shape how ordinary people understood the monarchy and its ministers.
About the Artist
Charles Edward Poulett Thomson, Baron Sydenham|Queen Victoria|Henry Richard Fox Vassall, 3rd Baron Holland|Alfred Ducôte|Thomas Spring Rice, 1st Baron Monteagle|John Doyle|Lord John Russell|Henry John Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston|William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne|Isaac Van Amburgh|Constantine Henry Phipps, 1st Marquess of Normanby|Daniel O'Connell|Henry Petty-FitzMaurice, 3rd Marquess of Lansdowne|Thomas McLean (British|British|British|British|British|Irish|British| |British|American|British|Irish| |British) · 1799 |1819 |1773 |1830 |1790 |1797 |1792 |1784 |1779 |1800 |1797 |1775 |1780 |1788 –1841 |1901 |1840 |1840 |1866 |1868 |1878 |1865 |1848 |1868 |1863 |1847 |1863 |1875
British, 1799–1841|British, London 1819–1901 East Cowes, Isle of Wight|British, 1773–1840|British, active 1830–40|British, 1790–1866|Irish, Dublin 1797–1868 London|British, 1792–1878|British, 1784–1865|British, London 1779–1848 Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire|American, Fishkill, New York 1800–1868 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania|British, Whitby, Yorkshire 1797–1863 London|Irish, Cahirciveen, Kerry 17...