Buonaparte at Rome giving audience in state, Isaac Cruikshank, 1797

Bonaparte sits in state on a small dais (right) receiving homage from the pope who is followed by cardinals. He wears a large tattered cocked hat riddled by bullets, close-fitting and dilapidated uniform, with spurred half-boots. He leans back with folded arms, putting his right foot on the pope's forehead and dislodging his triple crown; a talon-like toe protrudes through a hole in the boot. The aged pope lays the keys of st. Peter at the feet of the conqueror, who says, "i say, remember to take off your hat when you wait on a gemman!!! there kiss that you foutre. " his left foot rests on a cushion. Behind the pope stands a cardinal, holding 'mary magdalene's cracked pitcher'. A grinning french soldier with a drawn sword drives him forward with a kick from a bare leg. On the extreme left a cardinal crouches, holding out 'vn marys peticoat'. The procession towards bonaparte terminates in the figures of saints and a crucifix carried high. A grinning french grenadier, without breeches, stands behind bonaparte's chair, urinating into a receptacle for 'holy water'. 12 march 1797 hand-coloured etching. Date: 1797. Dimensions: Height: 288 mm; Width: 388 mm. Medium: paper. Depicted People: Napoléon I, Emperor of the French. Collection: British Museum. Buonaparte at Rome giving audience in state (BM 1868,0808.6606)