William Thomson, Archbishop of York

Signed 'Ape' (Carlo Pellegrini), this chromolithograph caricatures William Thomson, Archbishop of York, under the caption 'The Archbishop of Society' — a pointed remark on his reputation as a worldly, socially ambitious prelate rather than a purely spiritual one. Pellegrini renders him in full episcopal robes: voluminous white lawn sleeves billowing absurdly around a compact, barrel-chested frame, black chimere falling to the floor, arms folded with self-satisfied authority. The exaggerated sleeves are the comic engine — they dwarf the man, making institutional pomp swallow the person. Thomson's fleshy, jowled profile gazes sideways with an expression of complacent gravity. The satire targets clerical vanity and the Church of England's entanglement with fashionable Victorian society.