Exit libertè a la Francois! or Buonaparte closing the farce of Egalité, at St. Cloud near Paris Novr. 10th 1799

Gillray

1799

photo, print, drawing

Library of Congress

A chaotic scene depicts a crowd of people in distress, with soldiers in uniform pushing them back. A central figure in a blue military coat points forward, leading the soldiers. 1 print : etching, hand-colored ; 25.2 x 36 cm (sheet) | British satire shows Napoleon with his grenadiers driving the members of the Council of Five Hundred from the Orangery at St. Cloud at bayonet point. A drum is labeled "Vive la Liberte," and papers under foot read "Resignation des Directoires" and "Un liste de Membres du Conseil des Cinque Cents." On November 10, 1799, in a move known as the Coup d'État of Eighteenth Brumaire, Napoleon seized control of the French government and installed himself as First Consul, thereafter governing as a dictator. James Gillray was the dominant caricaturist of his period, producing popular sa