'Extirpation of the Plagues of Egypt; - Destruction of Revolutionary Crocodiles; - or - The British Hero cleansing ye mouth of ye Nile (caricature)'
Hand-coloured print 'Extirpation of the Plagues of Egypt'.
This is a simple but effective celebration of Nelson’s resounding victory over the French fleet at the Battle of the Nile on 1 August 1798. A colossal Nelson stands in the mouth of the river capturing and culling tri-coloured crocodiles. The biblical plagues of Egypt of the title are transformed into crocodiles, which stand in turn for the French ships taken or destroyed during the battle: one with flames issuing from its jaws evidently represents ‘L’Orient’, whose dramatic explosion was the focus of many contemporary paintings and prints of the battle.
Unlike Gillray’s satire of Nelson as ‘The Hero of the Nile’ (see PAF3888), published a few weeks later, this print shows him, in line with contemporary newspaper reports as the unqualified British hero, a modern demi-god, combining Moses with Hercules.
This is a simple but effective celebration of Nelson’s resounding victory over the French fleet at the Battle of the Nile on 1 August 1798. A colossal Nelson stands in the mouth of the river capturing and culling tri-coloured crocodiles. The biblical plagues of Egypt of the title are transformed into crocodiles, which stand in turn for the French ships taken or destroyed during the battle: one with flames issuing from its jaws evidently represents ‘L’Orient’, whose dramatic explosion was the focus of many contemporary paintings and prints of the battle.
Unlike Gillray’s satire of Nelson as ‘The Hero of the Nile’ (see PAF3888), published a few weeks later, this print shows him, in line with contemporary newspaper reports as the unqualified British hero, a modern demi-god, combining Moses with Hercules.
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Object Details
ID: | PAF3893 |
---|---|
Collection: | Fine art |
Type: | |
Display location: | Not on display |
Creator: | Gillray, James; Humphrey, H. |
Events: | French Revolutionary Wars: Battle of the Nile, 1798 |
Date made: | Published 6 October 1798 |
Exhibition: | Broadsides! Caricature and the Navy 1775–1815 |
People: | Nelson, Horatio |
Credit: | National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, London |
Measurements: | Mount: 406 mm x 560 mm; Primary support: 301 mm x 408 mm |
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