The Political Butcher, or Spain Cutting Up Buonaparte For The Benefit Of Her Neighbours
![The Political Butcher, or Spain Cutting Up Buonaparte For The Benefit Of Her Neighbours by Napoléon Bonaparte|Thomas Rowlandson|Rudolph Ackermann, London|G. Sauley [Farnham]](https://images.artheonmuseum.org/met/dp/thumb/the-political-butcher-or-spain-cutting-up-744123.webp)
Medium
Hand-colored etching
Dimensions
Sheet: 10 11/16 × 14 1/16 in. (27.1 × 35.7 cm) Plate: 10 1/16 × 13 3/8 in. (25.5 × 34 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
59.533.1175
Tags
Art Historical Context
This hand-colored etching, dated September 12, 1808, offers a sharp satirical commentary on the Napoleonic Wars. Titled *The Political Butcher, or Spain Cutting Up Buonaparte For The Benefit Of Her Neighbours*, it portrays Spain as a butcher methodically dismembering a figure representing Napoleon, with the pieces distributed to neighboring nations. Created during the early stages of the Peninsular War, the print captures the moment when Spanish resistance—sparked by the 1808 uprisings—began to challenge French dominance in Europe. Likely the work of British caricaturist Thomas Rowlandson and...
About the Artist
Napoléon Bonaparte|Thomas Rowlandson|Rudolph Ackermann, London|G. Sauley [Farnham] (French| ) · 1769 | –1821 |
French, Ajaccio 1769–1821 St. Helena|