A central monument [1] representing the French Republic is flanked by figures on pedestals inscribed [2] 'Liberty' and [3] 'Equality'. [1] A stout and frantic man rises from a tottering armchair which is poised on a pile of fragments of columns inscribed 'Humanity', 'Social Happiness', 'Tranquiliy' [sic], 'Security', 'Domestic Peace', 'Laws', 'Urbanity', 'Order', 'Religion'. On the back of his chair are the words 'Republic of Paris', the word 'France' having been scored through; beneath is a serpent. He shrieks "Ca ira", and holds a print inscribed 'Religious Indifference', on which a bishop and a monk burn at the stake. From behind him leans a nude and ugly man, with small wings, holding out to the left a cornucopia from which issue six papers inscribed 'Assignat' (cf. BMSat 8145). Above his head is the word 'Plenty'. Four famished and grotesque heads, in profile to the right, in the upper left corner of the design, lean avidly towards the assignats.
<p><br>[2] On the left an arrogant embodiment of Liberty stands in profile to the left, one foot resting on two volumes inscribed 'Law'. He is a ragged soldier with bare legs, left hand on hip; in his right hand he holds a dagger on which is spiked a bleeding head.  He says, "Ah Ca! f-----u Convention". At his feet, and on the extreme left, five men kneel abjectly, raising their hands in supplication; the man in the foreground wears a legal wig.
<br>[3] On the right Equality is symbolized by a well-dressed man grovelling on his hands and knees, while a burly, ragged, and half-naked ruffian stands on his back threatening him with a club. Beside them (right) is a pictorial banner inscribed 'Humanity': a grinning virago kneels on the body of a naked and mutilated man, a dagger in her right hand; she holds up the bleeding heart of her victim. Above this group stands a soldier in profile to the right, blowing from a trumpet the words 'Peace of Europe Establish'd'. He holds a match to the touch-hole of a mortar, inscribed 'Abolition of Offensive War', which is emitting cannon-balls; behind is a fortification inscribed 'Geneva'. He is inscribed 'Peace', and is a pendant to 'Plenty'. c.December 1792
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<br>Hand-coloured etching
1792<div style="display: none;">date QS:P571,+1792-00-00T00:00:00Z/9</div>
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