In this apocalyptical scene, the figure of Spain (r.) attacks Corsica (l.), here represented as a seven-headed beast marked with the number "666." The crowns are inscribed Naples, Austria, Holland, Denmark, Russia, Prussia and France, indicating the territories at war with Spain. As Spain severs Napoleon's head from the beast's body, the crowns topple and fall towards the allegorical figure of Hope (center), who runs to catch the crowns in her apron. To the far left, a city, as well as the surrounding countryside, is obscured by flames. At the right of the sheet, help arrives by ship above which is inscribed "Admiral Purvis." Rowlandson incorporates other apocalyptical references into the title of the sheet outside the bottom border of the frame. Underneath Napoleon's name, spelled phonetically as "Napolean Bounaparte," the artist records the correspondence between the letters and their sequence in the alphabet. The sum of these letters, "666," is provided for the viewer.
Notes:
Published by Ackermann,1808-07-22.
Caption: Resembling Napolean Buonaparte
Caption: Pubd. July 22 1808 by R. Ackermann N. 101 Strand
Dialogue: Spain: "True Patriotism shall thus subdue The monstrous beast and quell the rage of War!!!"
Ackermann, Rudolph,
"The Beast as described in Revelations, Chap. 13 Resembling Napoleon Bonaparte"
(1808).
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:232156/
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