Design for a Naval Column - 'To Perpetuate the Destruction of the Regicide Navy of France and the Triumph of the British Navy'<br><p>A satirical design for a naval column intended to convey the naval superiority of the British over the French. Britannia is positioned in a shell, accompanied by a lion and globe at the top of a tall column, holding victory in her right hand. In her left hand she holds a shield decorated with the union flag, together with a trident. The pillar is covered in satirical French Revolutionary emblems such as culottes, clogs and the guillotine, as well as naval imagery. The column sits on rocks surrounded by sea. Jagged flashes of lightning across the sky add to the dramatic effect of the design. 
</p><p>In the print, Gillray exploits the sense of revulsion felt by the British at the worst excesses of the French Revolution. Gillray's sympathies were firmly behind the British Government, and his anti-republican designs culminated in brutal satire after the execution of Louis XVI in 1793, when France declared war on England.<br></p>
Design for a Naval Column
<bdi><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/en:James_Gillray" class="extiw" title="w:en:James Gillray"><span title="British caricaturist and printmaker (1756-1815)">James Gillray</span></a>
</bdi>
Published 1 February 1800
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