A hard passage or Boney playing base on the continent., Thomas Rowlandson, 1808

Napoleon plays a double bass, stooping forward, and looking with an agonized expression towards a music-book on a high stand, the pages headed 'conquest of / spain & portugal' and ending in 'volti su. . ' he says: "plague take it! i never met with so difficult a 'passage' before - but if i can once get over the 'flats', we shall do pretty well for you see the 'key' will then change to b sharp. " behind napoleon and on the r. Stand the russian bear on his hind legs, muzzled, and blowing a french horn. He says: "why that is 'natural' enough brother boney though this 'french horn' of yours seems rather out of order i think. " napoleon, who wears a large bicorne, stands on a 'map of the continent' showing 'spain' and 'portugal'. Behind him are a drum and a roll of 'boney's orations vol. 10th'. 24 september 1808 hand-coloured etching. Date: 1808. Dimensions: Height: 247 mm; Width: 342 mm. Medium: paper. Depicted People: Alexander I, Tsar of Russia. Collection: British Museum. A hard passage or Boney playing base on the continent. (BM 1868,0808.7683)