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The Corsican Spider in His Web!

Publisher Thomas Tegg British
July 12, 1808
Not on view
Woodward and Rowlandson here use a metaphor of consumption to present Napoleon at his most powerful. In July 1808, French armies completed their invasion of Spain. The emperor’s well-known profile and plumed bicorne hat are appended to a fat spider’s body inscribed "Unbounded Ambition." Sitting at the center of a large web, the spider-emperor prepares to eat two Spanish flies representing King Charles IV and his son Ferdinand, both forced to abdicate to clear the throne for Napoleon’s brother, Joseph Bonaparte. Other entangled flies are labeled "Austria," "Holland," "Hanover," "Prussia" and "Italy," each now a French puppet state. Portugal, in danger of being the next to fall, struggles along the outermost strand. The Russian fly and the Pope fly are lightly caught and express hopes of freeing themselves. Only the Turkish fly, in a jeweled turban, and the British fly, wearing the head of John-Bull, still evade the spider’s grasp.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: The Corsican Spider in His Web!
  • Artist: Thomas Rowlandson (British, London 1757–1827 London)
  • Artist: After George Murgatroyd Woodward (British, 1765–1809 London)
  • Publisher: Thomas Tegg (British, London 1776–1846 London)
  • Date: July 12, 1808
  • Medium: Hand-colored etching
  • Dimensions: Sheet: 14 in. × 9 15/16 in. (35.6 × 25.3 cm)
    Plate: 13 11/16 × 9 3/4 in. (34.7 × 24.7 cm)
  • Classification: Prints
  • Credit Line: The Elisha Whittelsey Collection, The Elisha Whittelsey Fund, 1959
  • Object Number: 59.533.1110
  • Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints

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