Gillray caricatures: French Revolution

While some in Britain greeted the French Revolution with interest, Gillray was critical almost from the start. His print The hopes of the party, prior to July 14th (D13074) imagines the execution of George III by radicals including Fox and Sheridan. It is remarkable for having been published eighteen months before the execution of Louis XVI. The date refers to the anniversary of the storming of the Bastille, on which day a celebratory dinner had been held at the Crown and Anchor tavern on the Strand, shown in the background. A more straightforward expression of Gillray's feelings about Revolutionary France is provided by French liberty British slavery (D12466).

Gillray Caricatures