James Gillray's print "The Handwriting upon the Wall" is a famous 1803 political caricature that targets Napoleon Bonaparte. The artwork uses the biblical story of Belshazzar's feast to satirize Napoleon's imperial ambitions and predict his downfall.
The caricature was published in August 1803 following Napoleon's boast that he would conquer London in three days. Gillray depicts the following scene:
Napoleon is shown as the King of Babylon, hosting a lavish banquet with his wife Josephine and other French figures. The dishes on the table are shaped like prominent British institutions that Napoleon intended to "consume," including the Bank of England, St. James's Palace, the Tower of London, and a "Roast Beef of Old England".
Just as Napoleon begins to eat the dish representing St. James's, he notices a mysterious inscription appearing on the wall behind him. A disembodied hand points to the words written in the sky: "Mene Mene, Tekel, Upharsin". Horrified by the divine message, Napoleon drops his fork and spills wine, a look of terror on his face.
The imagery is a direct reference to the Book of Daniel (Daniel 5:25-28), where a hand appears during King Belshazzar's feast and writes a message that the prophet Daniel interprets. The words translate to: "Mene, God has numbered the days of your kingdom and brought it to an end; Tekel, you have been weighed in the balances and found wanting; Peres (Upharsin), your kingdom is divided and given to the Medes and Persians".
In Gillray's print, the message serves as a prophecy of Napoleon's imminent defeat and the collapse of his empire.
Gillray was one of five children, and the only one to survive to maturity. In 1770 he was apprenticed to Harry Ashby, a London writing in engraver, and five years later W. Humphrey published a few of Gillray's illustrations including satirical works. By the time Gillray commenced his career satire was old, but personal caricature was in its infancy. Other exponents in this form of art were soon overshadowed by Gillray's superior craftsmanship. His figures were full of vitality, titillating and reflective of some political crisis or private scandal. As his popularity increased so did demand by the public to see more of his work. In the rapidly changing politics of the late18th century he would produce a plate in twenty-four hours. Although sometimes overlooked his speech bubbles were elaborate and Gillray would spend considerable time composing and redrafting the text.
Between 1791 to 1807 his career continued successfully in association with William and Hannah Humphrey. There after Gillray's health began to suffer. He eventually slipped into madness and died shortly before the Battle of Waterloo on June 1st 1815. Hannah, who had a close relationship with him nursed Gillray through out his final years and following his death the copper plates then formed part of Hannah's estate when she died in 1818. The executor's of Hannah's estate sold Gillray's painstakingly worked plates for there second hand copper weight. Hearing of this, the then publisher, Bohn who had previously expressed an interest in buying the plates set about purchasing them from a variety of different sources. Eventually acquiring over 500. In 1851 Bohn republished the engravings in a large folio volume, "The Works of James Gillray".
