The Royal Allied Oak and Self-Created Mushroom Kings

The Royal Allied Oak and Self-Created Mushroom Kings

William Heath ('Paul Pry')

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

This puzzle print contains hidden profiles of George III, Louis XVIII, The Prince Regent, The King of Russia, Wellington and Blucher outlined against an oak tree, with profiles of Napoleon Bonaparte and three of his brothers hidden in mushrooms and weeds below. Those in the tree represent Britain and her allies, those on the ground, their enemies. When this print was published in late May 1815, Napoleon had escaped from exile on the island of Elba and was consolidating his army even as the opposing nations marshalled theirs. The Battle of Waterloo would be fought on June 18, 1815.

Drawings and Prints

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Royal Allied Oak and Self-Created Mushroom KingsThe Royal Allied Oak and Self-Created Mushroom KingsThe Royal Allied Oak and Self-Created Mushroom KingsThe Royal Allied Oak and Self-Created Mushroom KingsThe Royal Allied Oak and Self-Created Mushroom Kings

The Department’s vast collection of works on paper comprises approximately 21,000 drawings, 1.2 million prints, and 12,000 illustrated books created in Europe and the Americas from about 1400 to the present day. Since its foundation in 1916, the Department has been committed to collecting a wide range of works on paper, which includes both pieces that are incredibly rare and lauded for their aesthetic appeal, as well as material that is more popular, functional, and ephemeral. The broad scope of the department’s collecting encourages questions of connoisseurship as well as those pertaining to function and context, and demonstrates the vital role that prints, drawings, and illustrated books have played throughout history.