A satiric print commenting on the aborted launch of a balloon from the Luxembourg Gardens, July 11, 1784. The balloon in questoin caught fire after an extended an none too successful attempt at inflation. The crowd became so angry that they threw wooden chairs and other combustibles on the first. The would-be aeronauts the abbe Miollan and the engraver Jean-Francois Janinet became the butt of jokes and prints like this one. The charcterization of Miollan as a cat labled "Miaullant" is a play on the French rendering of a cat's meow. Note the clerical coller. ONe of the dogs is labled Jean-minet, a play on Janinet's name. The dog identified as "Gredin" is a play on the name Bredin, a "mecanicien" who assisted the aeronauts. Created by Digitized by Julie Weinstein Date Created 02/10/2021 Source Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum Keywords Art; Aviation Rights and Restrictions Not determined
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