Description
- Abstract:
- This image takes a popular child's game and uses it metaphorically to describe the punishment meted out to Napoleon by the allied leaders. In this case, the innocence of the game belies the violence of Napoleon's dismemberment in satire. The allies (l. to r. Blücher, Alexander I, Francis I, and Wellington) stand in a semicircle around the top with the head of Napoleon and lash at it. Napoleon's uniform is draped over a drum by the left margin of the image and his arms and legs are scattered on the ground. Clearly when the lashing began Napoleon was more man than top. Bernadotte stands to the rear left of the group and watches with satisfaction. So too does the newly appointed ruler of the Netherlands look on from his position at the rear right of the image. In the far distance Marie-Louise and the King of Rome flee across the countryside in a carriage. Above them and to the right the Devil carries Joseph Bonaparte (who has lost his crown) through the skies. While it is difficult to tell whether the drawing and coloring of this image are done over a poor impression of the print, the image is very likely a drawn copy of Cruikshank's engraving.
- Notes:
- This image is very likely a drawn copy of the engraved satire published by George Humphrey and etched by George Cruikshank.
Access Conditions
- Rights
- No Copyright - United States
- Restrictions on Use
- Collection is open for research.
Citation
"The Corsican whipping top in full spin!"
(1814).
Napoleonic Satires from the Anne S. K. Brown Military Collection, Prints, Drawings and Watercolors from the Anne S.K. Brown Military Collection.
Brown Digital Repository. Brown University Library.
https://repository.library.brown.edu/studio/item/bdr:232048/
Relations
Collections:
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