A Democrat, or Reason & Philosophy.

Size 24cm x 35cm

Originally published by Hannah Humphrey etched by James Gillray from 'The Genuine Works of James Gillray, engraved by himself. Thomas McLean edition on heavy rag-paper from the original copper plates printed 1830.

Gillray depicts a brutal caricature of Charles James Fox. Like the fiddler in Zenith, Fox is portrayed as a sans-culotte revolutionist who looks as though he has been celebrating the execution of Louis for the last several days. He is bleary-eyed, unshaven, with a bloody dagger in his belt and an artisan's un-powdered wig and tri-coloured cockade askew on his head. He sings, farts, and dances to Ca ira (All will be well!), but he does so literally with blood on his hands. As an image of revolutionary excess, it could hardly be equalled, and it is no surprise that Fox is said to have been deeply offended by it.