' Fighting for the Dunghill, or, Jack Tar Setting Buonparte ' James Gillray. English (1756-or 1757-1815) Hand-coloured aqautint. National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, London.

This is the earliest of Gillray's portrayals of Bonaparte as the symbolic personification of France. Here is caricatured in a manner deriving from earlier 18th-century lampoons against the French, particularly by Hogarth, in being shown semi-naked and emaciated. Gillray also plays upon Bonaparte's Corsican roots, notably in the Italian spelling of his name in the title. Seated atop a globe, he is being knocked down and his nose bloodied by a stout British tar with the profile features of George 111. It is a simple but effective piece of propaganda , casting France with the dark, benighted side of the globe, and Britain with the bringing of light. At the same time, the fusion of the King with Jack Tar is a brilliant means of suggesting a national unity between the upper and lower orders that was, at this time, far from being the case....Published 20 November 1798.