Cruikshank (Isaac)

, S.W. Fores, 1795.
Published in January, 1795, this is a brutal satire of the horrific massacre of Polish civilians by the Russian army in the autumn of 1794. It depicts Catherine II seated on a throne, the great Russian bear resting by her side as she stretches out her hand to touch the cluster of severed heads held out to her by the savage-looking officer, Suvoroff. His sleeves are rolled up high, revealing his muscular arms, and tucked under his left arm is a bloodied sword and a document titled ‘Articles of Capitulation, Warsaw’. Behind him, three attendants carry large baskets full of more heads of women and children, a winged demon hovering over the central one. To the right, the bust of Charles James Fox, sculpted by Nollekens, looks on in the shadows. Chillingly, Suvoroff says “Thus my Royal Mistress have I fulfilled in the fullest extent your Tender Affectionate & Maternal Commission to those Deluded People of Poland, & have brought you the Pickings of Ten Thousand Heads tenderly detached from their deluded bodies the Day after Capitulation.” She congratulates him, but questions whether the executed women might first have been persuaded to poison their husbands, an allusion to her suspected poisoning of her own husband, Peter III. She further instructs the demon to prepare altars to celebrate the te Deum in celebration. The demon replies ‘Bravo this out does the Poison scene. Suvoroff had ruthlessly defeated the Poles in an assault on Warsaw, but then lost control of his rampaging troops who undertook the ensuing massacre. Nevertheless, he was rewarded with the rank of field marshall and a gift of jewels..
245 by 350mm (9¾ by 13¾ inches).