Archivo: Gillray - The First Kiss

Description: Caricature on the Peace of Amiens by James Gillray Title: The first Kiss this Ten Years! —or—the meeting of Britannia & Citizen François SUMMARY: A tall, thin, French officer kissing a fat, richly dressed, seated Britannia. His hat and sword lie on the carpet. Britannia's shield and trident rest on the wall behind her chair. Above them are portraits of George III and Napoleon, facing each other. The officer is saying, "Madame, permittez me to pay my profound esteem to your engaging person!— & to seal on your divine Lips my everlasting attachment!!!" Britannia is saying, "Monsieur, you are truly a well-bred Gentleman!— &, tho' you make me blush, yet, you Kiss so delicately, that I cannot refuse you, tho' I was sure you would Deceive me again!!!" MEDIUM: 1 print : etching, hand-colored. CREATED/PUBLISHED: [London] : H. Humphrey, 1803 Jany 1st. According to Wright & Evans, Historical and Descriptive Account of the Caricatures of James Gillray (1851, OCLC 59510372), pp. 223–4, "Another clever hit at the peace. The portraits of Napoleon and King George, suspended on the wall, appear to be shaking hands, but with a very bad grace. This caricature is said to have excited Napoleon's mirth to an unusual degree."
Title: Gillray - The First Kiss
Credit: Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, LC-USZC4-8778 (color film copy transparency), uncompressed archival TIFF version (49 MB), level color (pick white point), rotated, cropped, and converted to JPEG (quality level 88) with the GIMP 2.4.5.
Author: James Gillray
Permission: No known restriction on publication.
Usage Terms: Public domain
License: Public domain
Attribution Required?: No