NAM.1977-05-39-1

Making Decent - !! Photograph of an etching by George Cruikshank after Capt Frederick Marryat, Royal Navy, nd. Original published by G Humphrey, 27 St James’s Street, London, 1822. The Wellington Monument on Park Lane was dedicated to the Duke of Wellington and his troops in 1822. Its main feature was a nude sculpture of the ancient Greek hero Achilles, made by melting down cannon captured at Salamanca, Vitoria, Toulouse and Waterloo. Public shock at the sculpture’s nudity contrasted with its dedication “by [Wellington’s] country women”, leading to caricatures such as this one, in which William Wilberforce tries to make it decent by holding his top hat over its genitalia from 10 am until dusk. Marryat was a Royal Navy captain better known as the author of ‘Mr Midshipman Easy’ and the children’s book ‘The Children of the New Forest’.

Peninsular War (1808-1814)

Waterloo, Battle of, 1815 (Napoleonic Wars, Waterloo 1815), Salamanca, Battle of, 1812 (Peninsular War 1808-1814), Vitoria, Battle of, 1813 (Peninsular War 1808-1814), Toulouse, Battle of, 1814 (Peninsular War, Southern France 1813-1814)