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L'Aigle Impérial

Print
1870-1871 (printed)
Artist/Maker
Le Petit, Alfred (caricaturist)
Place of origin
Paris (printed)

Satirical print in which Napoleon III is depicted as half human and half eagle, with a decomposing human head in his talon. Print from a set of caricatures, broadsheets and illustrations in ten volumes. Each volume is half-bound in red leather, gold tooled and stamped with imperial emblems, title etc.

Object details

Categories
Prints
Caricatures & Cartoons
Object type
Print
TitleL'Aigle Impérial (assigned by artist)
Materials and techniques
Hand-coloured engraving on paper
Paper
Engraving
Hand-Colouring
Brief description
'L'Aigle Impérial'. Satirical illustration be Alfred le Petit showing the Emperor Napoleon III as half human and half eagle. Hand-coloured engraving, France, 1870-1871.
Physical description
Satirical print in which Napoleon III is depicted as half human and half eagle, with a decomposing human head in his talon. Print from a set of caricatures, broadsheets and illustrations in ten volumes. Each volume is half-bound in red leather, gold tooled and stamped with imperial emblems, title etc.
Dimensions
  • Height: 30.8cm
  • Width: 23.7cm
Dimensions from: Lambert, Susan. The Franco-Prussian War and The Commune in Caricature 1870-71. catalogue of a collection of prints in the possession of the Department of Prints and Drawings of the Victoria and Albert Museum. London: Victoria and Albert Museum, 1971.
Marks and inscriptions
  • 'L'Aigle Impérial, Par Alfred Le Petit Supplément Du Journal La Charge No. 7. Monstre affamé de sang et de carnages, / Depuis vingt ans repu de notre sang; / Au pilori, c'est envain que tu rages, / Nous saurons bien te réduire au néant / A. Le Petit. Se vend chez Duclaux, 21, place du Château-d' Eau. - Dépôt chez Madre, 20, rue du Croissant, Paris. - Typ. Rouge frères et Comp'

    Note
    Title, lettered above designed.

  • 'Prusse'

    Note
    Lettered within design.

  • 'A. L. P'

    Note
    Signed

Gallery label
(27/05/1971-10/10/1971)
Alfred Le Petit "Zut" (1841-1909)

Napoleon III.

Process engraving, coloured by hand. E.462-1962
Object history
This engraving was the seventh supplement to the newspaper La Charge.
Historical context
This engraving represents that to many Frenchmen Napoleon Ill, here represented as half human and half eagle, seemed as wicked and lusting for blood as the Germans.
Subjects depicted
Eagle
Crown
Heads (Body Parts)
Bonaparte, Napoleon III
Bibliographic references
  • Lambert, Susan, The Franco-Prussian War and The Commune in Caricature 1870-71: catalogue of a collection of prints in the possession of the Department of Prints and Drawings of the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, V&A, 1971
  • Victoria & Albert Museum Department of Prints and Drawings and Department of Paintings, Accessions 1962. London: HMSO, 1964.
Collection
Prints, Drawings & Paintings Collection
Accession number
E.462-1962

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Record createdFebruary 3, 2009
Record URL
https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O185967/laigle-impérial-print-le-petit-alfred/
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