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The Apotheosis of Hoche
The Apotheosis of Hoche

The Apotheosis of Hoche

Primary (London, England, 1757–1815)
NationalityEnglish, Europe
Date1798
MediumEtching with hand-coloring
DimensionsSheet: 19 7/8 × 15 3/16 in. (50.5 × 38.6 cm)
Credit LineBlanton Museum of Art, The University of Texas at Austin, Purchase, 2003.24
Collection AreaPrints and Drawings
Object number2003.24
On View
Not on view
Label Text
This elaborate print depicts Louis Lazare Hoche, French general of the Revolutionary Army, ascending into a Jacobin heaven while plucking his guillotine-lyre. Jacobin is a general term used to address those who publically declare revolutionary opinions. Below lies France, blood-soaked and scorched, a result of campaigns headed by Hoche during the French Revolution. Hoche is greeted by droves of headless figures, monsters, and grotesque cherubs, all wearing Phrygian caps, a motif associated with the Revolution; to the left are martyrs of the revolution paying their respects. Suspended in the heavens is the Jacobin Decalogue, the antithesis of the Ten Commandments.
Exhibitions