The Sorrows of Boney or Meditations in the Island of Elba!!!

Date1814

Object number00054713

NameCaricature

MediumInk on paper

DimensionsOverall: 193 × 215 mm
Mount / Matt size: 560 × 407 mm

ClassificationsArt

Credit LineANMM Collection

Terms

DescriptionCaricature titled: The Sorrows of Boney or Meditations in the island of Elba!!! It comprises a hand-coloured etching by unknown artist depicting a dejected Napoleon seated on a diminutive Elba dressed in full military uniform complete with bicorn hat and sword with bats and birds circling above his head as he looks towards a distant citadel marked as: Continent of Europe. Napoleon is holding his face with both hands and crying. Over the image, text reads: The Sorrows of Boney or Meditations in the island of Elba!!! HistoryThis engraving was first published by John Wallis in 1803 as an uncoloured etching titled Crocodile’s Tears: or, Bonaparte’s Lamentation. A New Song, which showed Napoleon looking at a heavily defended England, and illustrated a broadside bearing a ten-stanza song. Following Napoleon’s defeat and exile to Elba in 1814, the plate was reworked to add the captions Elba and Continent of Europe and issued in this coloured form. This caricature is one of a collection of seventeen created during the Napoleonic wars and highlights the fortunes of the French Emperor during his rise and fall. It was during this period that the character of John Bull was created as a representation of the solid English yeoman and the caricatures reflect the attitudes common in England at the time.SignificanceThe collection is significant as a contemporary expression of popular British attitudes towards Napoleon and his era. The collection includes works by noted artists James Gillray, Isaac Cruikshank and Thomas Rowlandson and are all original works dating to the first quarter of the 19th century. They are significant in providing a political context for the early years of British settlement in Australia.