Democratic innocence ; Democratic humility

Democratic innocence ; Democratic humility

Item Information

Title:
Democratic innocence ; Democratic humility
Description:
Two panels from a sequence of eight designs, arranged in two rows, titled "Democracy - or - a Sketch of the Life of Buonaparte." [Left] Democratic Innocence. The young Buonaparte & his wretched Relatives, in their native Poverty, while Free Booters in the Island of Corsica: The interior of a wretched hut, a fire burning on an open hearth, a tattered cloth hanging from a line. On a heap of straw sits a fat ragged woman, nursing an infant who pulls her nose. Five ragged children fight round an empty dish (on an upturned tub) for a large bare bone which one (Napoleon) has seized and is gnawing. The father enters, carrying on his back a lean chamois. His dog barks at an angry cat who has caught a rat. An axe and sword hang from the rough stone wall. A grotesque travesty of the household of Carlo and Letizia Buonaparte. [Right] Democratic Humility. Buonaparte, when a boy, received thro the King's bounty into the Ecole Militaire at Paris: A stiff Court Chamberlain, like Lord Salisbury in caricature, leads by the hand the barefooted and ragged little Bonaparte, who advances trembling towards the chair at which sits the officer in command of the school, holding out his hand to the child in a friendly manner. On the table before him are plans of forts, books. Three small cadets in uniform stand beside him. Crossed foils are on the floor. In the background beneath a portrait of Louis XVI (decapitated by the upper margin) are two rows of boys. There are a small cannon, a globe, a diagram of sword exercises, etc. Bonaparte, in 1779, aged nine, was admitted to the military school at Brienne, his expenses defrayed by Louis XVI (BM).
Artist:
Gillray, James, 1756-1815
Name on Item:
Jas. Gillray delt.
Date:
May 12, 1800
Format:
Prints
Genre:
Etchings
Caricatures
Satires (Visual works)
Location:
Boston Public Library
Arts Department
Collection (local):
James Gillray (1756-1815). Prints and Drawings
Subjects:
Emperors
Kings
Huts
Families
School children
Cadets
Generosity
Napoleon I, Emperor of the French, 1769-1821
Bonaparte, Letizia, 1750?-1836
Bonaparte, Carlo Maria, 1746-1785
Louis XVI, King of France, 1754-1793
Places:
France
Extent:
2 prints on 1 sheet : etching ; plate mark 22 x 29 cm
Permalink:
https://ark.digitalcommonwealth.org/ark:/50959/2z111k394
Terms of Use:
No known copyright restrictions.
No known restrictions on use.
Publisher:
London : Published by John Miller, Bridge Street & W. Blackwood, Edinburgh
Language:
English
Notes:
Titles from item.
BM Satires 9534; Wright/Evans 252
Additional information accompanying item: From the 1824 Gillray collection of copies, etched and published by John Miller and W. Blackwood.
"Democracy. Or, a Sketch of the Life of Buonaparte" is one of those numerous productions which were at this time put forth with the object of exciting the hatred and contempt of the people of this country towards the man who had now begun to rule the destinies of France. The events of his life are here traced (Wright/Evans).
Notes (date):
Date from Wright/Evans.
Reproduction. Date indicated is Gillray's original publication date.
Notes (citation):
Stephens, Frederic George, George, Mary Dorothy. "Catalogue of Political and Personal Satires in the Department of Prints and Drawings in the British Museum." British Museum Press, 1870, London.
Wright, Thomas, R. H. Evans. "Historical and descriptive account of the caricatures of James Gillray." Benjamin Blom, 1968, New York.
Identifier:
18_17_000031
Barcode:
36666003787260