Description
- Abstract:
- Standing on a high platform, Napoleon (r.) harangues his audience, enumerating the promises and conquests he has made for the benefit of France. In his rage he has overturned his armchair and a globe lies on its side, broken and cracked. The cracked globe simulatneously references both the state of the French nation and its colonial empire and Napoleon's "cracked" mental state. The young heir to the throne joins him on the platform and suggestively straddles what appears to be a headless hobby horse. In a sea of powdered wigs and fat faces, the "Lads of Paris" gathered around the platform object to Napoleon's speech and wear expressions of disgust.
- Notes:
- Published by R. Ackermann, 1814-12-04. British Museum, BM 12113. The subject and the composition refer to James Gillray's satire, 'Maniac Ravings, or, Little Boney in a Strong Fit.' See also Broadley 155.
- Caption: Pubd. December 4 1813 by R. Ackermann N. 101 Strand
- Dialogue: Napoleon (left of sheet): "Did I not swear I would destroy Sweden/Did I not swear "I would have" Colonies and Commerce/Did I not build more ships than you could find Sailors for/Did I not burn all the British produce bought and paid for by my faithful merchants--before their faces, for the good of them and my good people of Paris?/Have I not called my troops from Holland--that they might not winter in that foggy climate?/Have I not called my troops from Spain and Portugal to the ruin of the English?/Did I not change my religion and turn Turk, for the good of the French nation?/Have I not blown up the Corporal, for blowing up the Bridge?/Have I not robbed the churches of twenty flags to send to my Empress, for the loss of my own flags & Eagles?/And now for the good of the Empire, Behold! O ye Lads of Paris! I have put the King of Rome in Breeches!!!
- Dialogue: Napoleon (right of sheet): "Did I not swear I would destroy Austria?/Did I not swear I would destroy Prussia?/Did I not leave the Russians 1200 pieces of cannon to build a monument of the victory of Moscow?/Did I not lead 498,000 men to gather fresh Laurels in Moscow, and leave 400,000 brave soldiers to perish in the snow for the good of the French nation?"
Access Conditions
- Rights
- No Copyright - United States
- Restrictions on Use
- Collection is open for research.
Citation
Ackermann, Rudolph,
"The Corsican Munchausen...humming the lads of Paris"
(1814).
Prints, Drawings and Watercolors from the Anne S.K. Brown Military Collection, Napoleonic Satires from the Anne S. K. Brown Military Collection.
Brown Digital Repository. Brown University Library.
https://repository.library.brown.edu/studio/item/bdr:232138/
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