The Bombardment of All the Thrones of Europe and the Fall of the Tyrants for the Happiness of the Universe (Bombardement de Tous les Trônes de l'Europe et la Chûte des Tyrans pour la Bonheur de l'Univers)

The Bombardment of All the Thrones of Europe and the Fall of the Tyrants for the Happiness of the Universe (Bombardement de Tous les Trônes de l'Europe et la Chûte des Tyrans pour la Bonheur de l'Univers)

Anonymous, French, 18th century

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Empress Catherine II of Russia made several unsuccessful attempts to organize military expeditions against Revolutionary France. Bare-breasted, she rides here atop a group of cowering world leaders and cries, "Return, you cowards, and I will make you all bite the dust...how I regret my poor rubles!" One of the monarchs turning away below states, "This sickness of the French will cost me my throne." Among the crowd are William Pitt, the chief minister of England, and the pope. All are under attack by the forces of the French Revolution across the way. Liberty stands atop a fortress mounted by three tiers of bare-bottomed deputies of the National Assembly - a literal reference to the sans-culottes (no-britches), the working-class radicals of the French Revolution. Liberty lights a cannon that fires into the rear of King Louis XVI and forces him to vomit vetoes. The rows of buttocks spew "Liberté" as well as "Ça ira," the refrain of a notorious Revolutionary song with lyrics including the phrase "We will hang the aristocrats." A large Prussian eagle attempting to shield the monarch with a crown apologizes, "But for these sans-culottes dogs, I would protect you."

Drawings and Prints

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Bombardment of All the Thrones of Europe and the Fall of the Tyrants for the Happiness of the Universe (Bombardement de Tous les Trônes de l'Europe et la Chûte des Tyrans pour la Bonheur de l'Univers)The Bombardment of All the Thrones of Europe and the Fall of the Tyrants for the Happiness of the Universe (Bombardement de Tous les Trônes de l'Europe et la Chûte des Tyrans pour la Bonheur de l'Univers)The Bombardment of All the Thrones of Europe and the Fall of the Tyrants for the Happiness of the Universe (Bombardement de Tous les Trônes de l'Europe et la Chûte des Tyrans pour la Bonheur de l'Univers)The Bombardment of All the Thrones of Europe and the Fall of the Tyrants for the Happiness of the Universe (Bombardement de Tous les Trônes de l'Europe et la Chûte des Tyrans pour la Bonheur de l'Univers)The Bombardment of All the Thrones of Europe and the Fall of the Tyrants for the Happiness of the Universe (Bombardement de Tous les Trônes de l'Europe et la Chûte des Tyrans pour la Bonheur de l'Univers)

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.