Job Reproved by His Friends

Barry, James (Irish painter, printmaker, and lithographer, 1741-1806, active in England)

Job Reproved by His Friends

Date

1983

Authors

Barry, James (Irish painter, printmaker, and lithographer, 1741-1806, active in England)

Publisher

The Tate Gallery

Citation

William L. Pressly, 'James Barry: Artist as Hero', London: The Tate Gallery, 1983, p 76-7, no 24

Description

'Beset by disasters on all sides, the long-suffering Job listens dejectedly to the reproving counsel of his friends. To the left sit Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar, while behind them the young man, Elihu, who lectures Job in his turn, leans on a staff. Job's wife touches her husband's shoulder with one hand and point heavenward with the other. In his book on the sublime and beautiful, Edmund Burke used numerous examples from 'The Book of Job' to evoke the sublime, awesome dimension of God's omnipotent power, and, by dedicating his print to Burke, Barry pays homage to his friend's work as an aesthetician. This print however should be read as a political allegory. The features of Job's wife unmistakably resemble those of William Pitt the Elder. Burke should perhaps be identified with the seated, discoursing friend to Job's left, since this figure most closely resembles that of Burke as Zenocrates executed in the following year. It is also possible that Job should be identified with Burke or perhaps even Barry, who, grieving over the misfortunes created by the American Revolution, is counselled by his reproving friends not to despair. All of these readings play havoc with the biblical story, but, for Barry, in the realm of printmaking the contemporary political message takes precedence over the historical subject through which it is conveyed.' (Pressly, 76-7)