Another Andersen-related piece today after the other day's mermaid. This time I've had a stab at drawing a picture of a scene from The Emperor's New Clothes, which first appeared in 1837 alongside The Little Mermaid in a small booklet. A delightfully satirical fable, its moral rings just as true in today's society and political landscape as it did nearly two-hundred years ago. The scene depicted is the moment where the emperor finally tries on clothes made of a material that "has a wonderful way of becoming invisible to anyone who is unfit for office or unusually stupid". Of course, the whole notion of magic material is a load of nonsense, merely the invention of two swindlers posing as reputable tailors. Daunted by the prospect of being declared incompetent, however, the emperor and his court imagine that the clothes do exist...
Dear Joe, how can I contact you to ask permission to reproduce this image in an academic paper? Best wishes, S. Oosthuizen
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