Sans-culottes, feeding Europe with the bread of liberty, James Gillray, 1793

Five groups, one in each corner, with a central group which represents john bull, standing full face, between sheridan (left) and fox (right), who are forcibly feeding him with the bread of liberty. Both are ragged and bare-legged sansculottes, wearing bonnets-rouges. Each forces a small loaf inscribed 'liberty', on the point of a dagger, into john's gaping mouth, dipping a hand into his coat-pocket. In the background, standing on a barren plain, are a gibbet (left) and temple bar (right). The other groups represent french sansculottes despoiling 'holland', 'savoy', 'germany' & 'prussia', and 'italy'. In the upper left corner a stout dutchman straddling across the 'river sheldt' is forced backwards by a frenchman (left) who forces a loaf inscribed 'liberty' into his mouth at the point of his bayonet, while another diverts a stream of coins from his pocket into his own cap. A third removes the dutchman's hat with its tobacco pipe, and places on his head a bonnet-rouge. In the upper right corner a frenchman thrusts the loaf of 'liberty', spiked on a spit, at the mouth of a stout savoyard while another holds him by the ears, and a third (right) drags at the hurdy-gurdy which is slung round his neck. Below (left) an austrian officer holding a standard on which is the habsburg eagle, and a prussian officer (probably brunswick) wearing the cap of the death's-head hussars, and holding a broken sword (indicating retreat after valmy, see bmsat 8125, &c. ) flee in terror before french tatterdemalions with loaves of 'liberty' on their spears, and a banner inscribed 'vive la liberia'. In the lower right corner a sansculotte fires a loaf of 'liberty' from his blunderbuss into the mouth of the terrified pope, who leans back in his papal chair. A second frenchman, clutching the keys of st. Peter, removes his triple crown. The pope's bare foot rests on a stool, and is trampled on by the furious man with the blunderbuss. The emblematical dove (irradiated) flies off. 12 january 1793 hand-coloured etching. Date: 1793. Dimensions: Height: 311 mm; Width: 372 mm. Medium: paper. Depicted People: Charles II, Duke of Brunswick-Luneberg. Collection: British Museum. Sans-culottes, feeding Europe with the bread of liberty (BM 1851,0901.641)