These two plates are the third and fouth plates in an eight plate series chronicling the life of Napoleon. In the third plate, "Democratic Gratitude," Napoleon commands a group of angry Republicans to attack and to loot the palace of Louis XVI. In this case, the destruction that Napoleon levies against the King is satirized as evidence of his ingratitude for the military education he received at the cost of the state. The caption at the bottom of the image elucidates this: "Buonaparte heading the Regicide Bandetti which dethron'd & murder'd the Monarch whose bounty had foster'd him." George notes; "On 13 Vendemaire (Oct. 5, 1795), Bonaparte commanded the troops by which the Convention was defended from an insurrection which was partly royalist." In the fourth plate, "Democratic Religion," Napoleon sits on an oversized couch and smokes a waterpipe. A Muslim wearing long robes replaces Napoleon's hallmark black hat with a turban. Napoleon's inconsistency and lack of scruples is highlighted here. According to the caption: "Buonaparte turning turk at Cairo for Interest, after swearing on the Sacrament to support e/y Catholic Faith." A group of French officers look on with disapproval; behind them, Turkish priests stand with arms akimbo.
Notes:
Published by John Miller, 1800-05-12. British Museum, BM 9534. Notably, this print is a later copy after Gillray's original sheets and even reproduces the original mispellings of Napoleon's name. The publisher, John Miller, copied from Gillray and reduced the size of the images. Dates assigned are from Broadley's list-- n.b., Broadley also lists the publisher as Humphrey.
Caption: Plate 1: Democratic Gratitude "Buonaparte heading the Regicide Banditti which dethron'd & Murder'd the Monarch whose bounty had foster'd him."
Caption: Plate 2: Democratic Religion "Buonaparte turning Turk at Cairo for Interest, after swearing on the Sacrement to support y/e Catholic Faith."
Printed Signature: James Gillray, Invt.
Annotation: plates 3 & 4 of an 8 plate series
London Published by John Miller Bridge Street & W. Blackwood Edinburgh
"Democracy, or a sketch of the life of Buonaparte"
(1800).
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:232141/
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