some Sunday silliness...

This is a straight steal from Earl (link to the left - still as Bug Eyed Earl - I keep meaning to change it to his current blog identity - The Verdant Dude). The character above is Joseph Ducreux, an eighteenth century French painter. Our man seems to have had a liking for subverting the genre as he did self portraits as above grinning and pointing at the viewer and another of himself doing a dirty great yawn. Various wags have been putting captions on this self-portrait. This is my favourite. Who let the dogs out? reminds me of going to court a few years ago and securing my client's release on bail somewhat against the odds (I forget what he was charged with but he didn't look a promising candidate for bail). After being granted bail, he came bursting out of the cell area, gave an impromptu rendition of who let the dogs out? and then charged out of the court and into the nearest pub with his co-defendant for a spot of under age drinking. They had just been granted bail on condition not to contact each other.

Going back to Ducreux, interestingly he appears to have been something of a royalist and was painter by appointment to Marie Antoinette as well as being made a baron. When the French Revolution happened, he headed off to London at a rate of knots. Things take an odd turn in that he came back to Paris in 1793 where, somewhat curiously given his royalist track record, he linked up with French revolutionary artist Jacques-Louis David. Here is David's Tennis Court Oath. The French revolution is kicking off folks...

David's best known painting must be The Death of Marat. David was a friend of Marat a prominent Jacobin and promoter of the reign of terror. Charlotte Corday, repelled by the terror and fearing civil war went to Marat who spent most of his time in the bath because of a debilitating skin disease. She claimed to have a list of counter-revolutionaries for him. He thanked her and said they would be executed next week. She then stabbed him to death. As one does. Here is our man as per David, presumably with the list. Charlotte Corday was guillotined for her bad behaviour shortly afterward. I always thought that it was Charlotte Corday who said 'oh liberty! what crimes are committed in your name?' but it wasn't but rather someone obscure called Madame Roland. She was about to get her head whacked off too so one can see her point of view.

And finally for American readers - with another Hat Tip to Mahal for his industry in providing me with material, we have Triumph the Insult Comic Dog on global warming...