A Review of the New Grand Army

A Review of the New Grand Army

William Heath ('Paul Pry')

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Napoleon stands at the center of this satire and points towards cannon balls lettered "Forse, meat Balls for the Lads of Paris," with Death and the Devil in the clouds behind him at right. At left, an Italian brigand holds a pistol and a pole lettered "Plunder" and at right a butcher holds a noose and a knife. An inscription below describes the figures as "Captain of Starved Banditty from the Alps, Ad Camp, The Aghast Emperor & his two Friends & Pillars of the State, Butcher from Elba. Generalissimo." Above Napoleon's head, a figure ererges from clouds identified as "Deamon of War Presideing over the Tyrant." In the distance ragged soldiers declare their support for the emperor.

Drawings and Prints

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

A Review of the New Grand ArmyA Review of the New Grand ArmyA Review of the New Grand ArmyA Review of the New Grand ArmyA Review of the New Grand Army

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.