Personification of the Fallen Tyrant

Nebuchanezzar was the King of Babylon whose arrogance was punished by God. 'He was driven from among men, and ate grass like an ox. And his body was wet with the dew of heaven, till his hair grew as long as eagles' feathers, and his nails were like birds' claws', says the Book of Daniel.

Here we see him in exile, animal-like on all fours. Naked, he gazes with mad horror at his own reflection like some kind of anti-Narcissus.

This picture was painted in 1795. In France Louis XVI had been executed two years before. Meanwhile, in England George III, whose yoke the American colonists had recently thrown off, suffered from bouts of insanity. Could this picture of a degraded king be an expression of Blake's republican sentiments?