The hero's return [graphic]
Found In:
Lewis Walpole Library > The hero's return [graphic]
Description
- Title
- The hero's return [graphic]
- Creator
- Cruikshank, George, 1792-1878, printmaker
- Contributor
- Humphrey, Hannah, active 1774-1817, publisher.
- Published / Created
- Feby. 22d, 1813.
- Publication Place
- London
- Publisher
- Pubd. by H. Humphrey, St. James's St.
- Abstract
-
"A scene in the Empress's dressing-room. Marie Louise is horror-struck at the appearance of Napoleon who advances towards her in profile astride the back of a crawling Mameluke; he is held up by two other Mamelukes who support his arms and shoulders. He is terribly emaciated and appears moribund. He wears uniform; his legs, feet, and hands are swathed in bandages, his (former) ear and nose covered with black patches. The crawling Mameluke, presumably Roustan, holds out a bottle containing a pointed nose, and labelled 'Le Nez de l'Empereur'. Immediately behind Napoleon and his three supporters are two kneeling Mamelukes, each reverently holding a tasselled cushion supporting a bottle; one being labelled 'Les Doights [sic] de l'Empereur Napole . . .', the other, 'Les Oreilles de l'Empereur Napoleon'. Behind them (left) another Mameluke advances with a bottle labelled 'Les Doights du pied de l Empereur Bon . . .' The Mamelukes wear Turkish dress with turbans. Napoleon looks in tragic silence at his wife, who is seated in regal state but turns aside weeping with violent gestures of despair. A small terrestrial globe decorates her chair; her foot rests on a stool in the form of a flattened polar hemisphere on which the word 'Brit[ain]' is visible. Over her low-cut dress is an ermine-bordered robe clasped with a fleur-de-lis. She is supported by an emaciated court-lady, with a patched face, proffering a smelling-bottle, whose profile and a small crown show that she is one of Napoleon's sisters; two other ladies, wearing crowns, stand behind the Empress, registering consternation. A less conspicuous lady weeps. On the Empress's right kneels the Governess of the King of Rome, Mme de Montesquiou, holding the screaming child, and weeping noisily. He registers angry terror at the sight of his father; his little crown has fallen off. His features, though fore-shortened and distorted, resemble those of his father, cf. British Museum satires no. 11719. He wears an ermine-trimmed robe over his childish tunic and breeches. Behind the Governess is a draped dressing-table, the drapery decorated by a large fleur-de-lis, and the toilet boxes ornamented with crowns. A terrified monkey climbs up the mirror, clutching at the crown which surmounts it, and looking over its shoulder at the shocking spectacle presented by the Emperor. On the extreme right a lap-dog stands on a cushion barking furiously at Napoleon. On the ground on the extreme left are two large round coffers, one inscribed 'Coffre Pour la Bijoutère [sic] Russe', the other expectantly open. Voluminous draperies on the left and right, supported on the right by a pillar add to the regal character of the room."--British Museum online catalogue
- Description
-
Title etched below image.
Four lines of verse below title: Dishonest with lopp'd arms the man appears, spoil'd of his nose, and shorten'd of his ears. She scarcely knew him, striving to disown, his blotted form, and blushing to be known. Dryden's Virgil, Book Six. - Provenance
- Andrew Edmunds; June 2018.
- Extent
- 1 print : plate mark 29.5 x 40 cm, on sheet 30.3 x 47 cm
- Language
-
English
Collection Information
- Repository
- Lewis Walpole Library
- Call Number
- 813.02.22.01+
Subjects, Formats, And Genres
- Genre
-
Caricatures and cartoons
Satires (Visual works) England 1813
Etchings England London 1813 - Material
- etching ; and wove paper hand-colored.
- Resource Type
- still image
- Subject (Geographic)
-
Russia.
France. - Subject (Name)
-
Napoleon I, Emperor of the French, 1769-1821
Marie Louise, Empress, consort of Napoleon I, Emperor of the French, 1791-1847
Bonaparte, François-Charles-Joseph, Herzog von Reichstadt, 1811-1832
Piombino, Elisa Bonaparte Baciocchi, principessa di, 1777-1820
Bonaparte, Paolina, 1780-1825
Caroline Bonaparte, consort of Joachim Murat, King of Naples, 1782-1839
Roustam, 1782?-1845 - Subject (Topic)
-
Campaigns of 1813-1814
Napoleonic Wars, 1800-1815
Campaigns
Crowns
Dogs
Dismemberment
Dressing tables
Empresses
Ethnic stereotypes
Loss of consciousness
Monkeys - Subjects
-
Napoleon I, Emperor of the French, 1769-1821 > Caricatures and cartoons
Napoleon I, Emperor of the French, 1769-1821 > Campaigns of 1813-1814
Marie Louise, Empress, consort of Napoleon I, Emperor of the French, 1791-1847 > Caricatures and cartoons
Bonaparte, François-Charles-Joseph, Herzog von Reichstadt, 1811-1832 > Caricatures and cartoons
Piombino, Elisa Bonaparte Baciocchi, principessa di, 1777-1820 > Caricatures and cartoons
Bonaparte, Paolina, 1780-1825 > Caricatures and cartoons
Caroline Bonaparte, consort of Joachim Murat, King of Naples, 1782-1839 > Caricatures and cartoons
Roustam, 1782?-1845 > Caricatures and cartoons
Napoleonic Wars, 1800-1815 > Campaigns > Russia
Crowns
Dogs
Dismemberment
Dressing tables
Empresses > France
Ethnic stereotypes
Loss of consciousness
Monkeys
England > 1813
England > London > 1813
Access And Usage Rights
- Access
- Public
- Rights
- The use of this image may be subject to the copyright law of the United States (Title 17, United States Code) or to site license or other rights management terms and conditions. The person using the image is liable for any infringement.
Identifiers
- Orbis Record
- 13635189
- Object ID (OID)
- 16702981