The Double Humbug or the Devils Imp Praying for Peace
Medium
Hand-colored etching
Dimensions
Sheet: 9 1/4 in. × 14 in. (23.5 × 35.5 cm)
Classification
Prints
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
The Elisha Whittelsey Collection, The Elisha Whittelsey Fund, 1959
Accession Number
59.533.1951
Tags
Art Historical Context
In the turbulent final days of the Napoleonic Wars, British satirist Thomas Rowlandson crafted *The Double Humbug or the Devils Imping for Peace* on January 1, 1814, published by Rudolph Ackermann in London. hand-colored etching, measuring 9¼ × 14 inches, exemplifies the sharp-witted caricatures that flooded Britain, mocking Napoleon Bonaparte as a hypocritical "devil's imp" feigning piety for peace amid his crumbling empire. The title's "double humbug" skewers the French emperor's desperate overtures to his foes after defeats in the War of the Sixth Coalition, portraying him as a duplicitous ...
About the Artist
Thomas Rowlandson|Napoléon Bonaparte|Rudolph Ackermann, London · 1756–1827
Thomas Rowlandson (1757–1827) was an English artist and caricaturist whose satirical watercolors and prints captured the social life of Georgian Britain with unparalleled wit and technical mastery. Alongside James Gillray, he is recognized as one of the greatest British graphic artists, and his distinctive flowing line and keen observations have made his work integral to understanding late 18th an...