Gillray and the French Revolution

James Gillray represented the horrid barbarities of the French revolutionaries in his famous political satires which dramatised the event and showed Louis XVI as a martyr. He made the public aware of the dangers of the French Revolution and transfered the bloody massacres in a British context for the purpose of propaganda, warning his fellow countrymen against the disorder, violence and anarchy which could spread over to Britain. James Gillray took a conservative stance and his hand-coloured etchings alluded to the harmful effects of the French Revolution which threatened British stability, the Monarchy and the Constitution.