A new device to cleave wild beasts from Head to Tail

1769

From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art

Dominant colour

A new device to cleave wild beasts from Head to Tail is a 1769 by Filippo Morghen, a Romanticism work, held at Cleveland Museum of Art.

Who painted this?: Filippo Morghen
When & what style?: 1769 · Romanticism
Where can I see it?: Cleveland Museum of Art

About this work

You see a giant pair of scissors slicing a wild, rat-like beast in half. The scene is crowded with strange machines and moon creatures. This etching comes from a series imagining life on the moon. People in the 1700s loved stories about space travel, even if they were totally made up. Morghen filled his moon with pumpkin boats, bird taxis, and tools like this oversized scissor contraption. If you like odd inventions, look up *impasto*—a painting technique where thick paint stands out like the bold lines in this print.

The story of this work

Overview

Filippo Morghen’s set of 10 etchings is outstanding among visual narratives of imaginary voyages to the moon, both visual and literary, that intrigued 18th-century European audiences. A title page and nine plates depict the imagined lives and economy of moon dwellers. These include modes of transport such as large birds and sailboats propelled by giant bellows, enormous scissors for capturing wild beasts (including an oversized rat), and the use of giant pumpkins as fishing boats and as dwellings. Representations of the moon dwellers are based on inaccurate and imaginary European…