The genius of France nursing her darling [graphic]

"France, a savage virago, dandles a tiny Napoleon seated on her right. hand and wearing a royal robe over his military dress. Above her head she holds a rattle with bells surmounted by a crown. She grins at the mannikin, singing: "There's a little King Pippin "He shall have a Rattle & Crown, Bless thy five Wits my Baby "Mind it dont throw itself down! Hey my Kitten, my kitten &c &c. Below the design is a note: '"False of Heart, light of Ear, bloody of Hand, "Fox in Stealth, Wolf in Greediness, Dog in Madness, "Lion in Prey: - bless thy Five Wits" - vide Shakespeares King Lear' Beside her (l.) is the plain wicker cradle from which she has snatched Napoleon, who points eagerly at the crown on the rattle, holding up a sceptre. She wears a bonnet rouge with tricolour cockade, a loose dress defining her figure, and sits in a small armchair, decorated with little decollated heads and a guillotine. Hand, dress, and the heads on the chair are blood-stained. Beside her are her spear, dripping blood, and shield; this is tricolour; on it is the bleeding head of Louis XVI above a reversed crown, with the inscriptions: 'Vive la Republique' and 'The Last of Kings'. Pose, shield, and spear suggest a comparison (and contrast) with Britannia."--British Museum online catalogue