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'Un petit souper, a la Parisienne; - or - a family of sans-culotts refreshing, after the fatigues of the day'

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- subject matching 'Gillray in Focus'

© National Portrait Gallery, London

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'Un petit souper, a la Parisienne; - or - a family of sans-culotts refreshing, after the fatigues of the day'

by James Gillray, published by Hannah Humphrey
hand-coloured etching, published 20 September 1792
11 1/4 in. x 14 1/4 in. (287 mm x 362 mm) paper size
Purchased, 1947
Reference Collection
NPG D13013

Artistsback to top

  • James Gillray (1756-1815), Caricaturist. Artist or producer associated with 887 portraits, Sitter in 7 portraits.
  • Hannah Humphrey (circa 1745-1818), Publisher and printseller. Artist or producer associated with 720 portraits, Sitter in 1 portrait.

This portraitback to top

Like many of his contemporaries Gillray hailed the outbreak of the Revolution in France with sympathy and expectation. But by the time of this print his images of the Revolution had become increasingly depraved. As events were nearing their bloody apogee - the Revolution was at its ugliest from 2 to 6 September - reports from Paris containing (often inflated) accounts of the massacres were translated by Gillray into prints such as this. Shocking in their savagery and populated by demonic sans-culottes, their teeth filed to sharp points and engaged in a bloody, bestial frenzy, Gillray's prints of the French Revolution descended into the realms of garish nightmare.

Placesback to top

Events of 1792back to top

Current affairs

The famous seven year trial of Warren Hastings, Governor-General of Bengal, on charges of embezzlement and murder, ends with his acquittal. Pro-Revolutionary philosopher Joseph Priestley's house is destroyed by a mob on the anniversary of the fall of the Bastille. Their actions are later seen as a key moment in the defeat of Enlightenment ideals in England.

Art and science

Mary Wollstonecraft publishes A Vindication of the Rights of Woman; a radical work which called on women to be allies to one another; fearless in their support and free in their criticism.
Sir Joshua Reynolds dies and is succeeded by Benjamin West as President of the Royal Academy.

International

The mob invades the Tuileries and the French Royal Family is imprisoned marking the end of France's experiment with constitutional monarchy and the declaration of the first French Republic.
The Revolutionary Commune is established in Paris.
France declares war on Austria and then Prussia.

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