Das ist mein lieber dohn an dem ich wohlgefallen habe

In this small, highly charged image, the Devil and his infant, Napoleon, gaze at each other in affectionate recognition. The Devil has the body of a satyr (hoofed feet, a long tail, clawed hands and horns protruding from his forehead), and has been colored with a dark pigment and given staring yellow eyes rimmed in red. Napoleon is tightly wrapped in swaddling clothes and lies on a board, comfortable in the Devil's embrace. In his right hand the devil holds the cross of the Legion of Honor. The biblical quotation that provides the title is derived from St. Mark, I, II. This phrase was spoken by the Lord on the baptism of Jesus. (See Napoleon, no. 336.) Caricatures and satires of Napoleon frequently use and invert biblical references in order to simultaneously create and to insist on a pre-existing iconography for Napoleon cast as the antichrist. As such, this image clearly identifies Napoleon as the spawn of the Devil. In this small, highly charged image, the Devil and his infant, Napoleon, gaze at each other in affectionate recognition. The Devil has the body of a satyr (hoofed feet, a long tail, clawed hands and horns protruding from his forehead), and has been colored with a dark pigment and given staring yellow eyes rimmed in red. Napoleon is tightly wrapped in swaddling clothes and lies on a board, comfortable in the Devil's embrace. In his right hand the devil holds the cross of the Legion of Honor. The biblical quotation that provides the title is derived from St. Mark, I, II. This phrase was spoken by the Lord on the baptism of Jesus. (See Napoleon, no. 336.) Caricatures and satires of Napoleon frequently use and invert biblical references in order to simultaneously create and to insist on a pre-existing iconography for Napoleon cast as the antichrist. As such, this image clearly identifies Napoleon as the spawn of the Devil. Sheet is not signed or dated. The date provided by the German catalog 'Napoleon Im Speigel der Karikatur' is '1813/1814.'