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After Philippe Jacques de Loutherbourge (1740-1812)
and John Webber (1752-1793)
engraving; 31 x 21.9 cm
When Webber and de Loutherbourg designed the set for the pantomime Omai, or A Trip around the World, the last scene required the allegorical elevation of Cook as a hero. Cook is shown ascending to heaven on a cloud, sextant in hand, flanked on the right by Britannia while to his left a winged allegory of Fame crowns him with laurels. Beneath the cloud we see Karakakooa Bay where Cook was killed, and the ships Resolution and Discovery. While initially regarded by the Hawaiians as Lono, the presiding deity of their great thanksgiving festival, Cook came to be regarded by his countrymen as the divinely appointed agent of civilisation who would abolish the "horrid past and rites" of the natives, preparing them for "an honourable position amongst the peoples of the earth".
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A selection of images from the Paradise Possessed exhibition. National Library of Australia. Click here to find out more about NLA exhibitions. Copyright: ©1998, National Library of Australia
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