The Shop of the Stock Boys, Gives Pleasure and Sorrow in Stealing
Anonymous, 1720, Etching and engraving
In a grotesque inversion of the triumphal entry, a pair of toads pulls a lowly cart (as opposed to an elegant chariot led by horses) through an arch ironically inscribed in Latin "Sic Itur ad Astra," or “Such is the way to immortality.” Commandeered by Bombario, the cart contains a motley group, including Harlequin, Satan, and other miscreants. Pumped full of Satanic airs, Harlequin spews forth worthless stock shares onto the masses below, who grasp for them in frenzied excitement but are stymied by the vagaries of the wind. The throngs of agitated men and women who crowd the scene appear as volatile and capricious as the papers that flutter to the ground in their midst.
: Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Division of Art, Prints and Photographs
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