James Barry

The Phoenix or the Resurrection of Freedom

1776–1808

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In Tate Britain

Prints and Drawings Room

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Artist: James Barry 1741–1806
Part of: A Series of Etchings by James Barry, Esq. from his Original and Justly Celebrated Paintings, in the Great Room of the Society of Arts
Medium: Etching, line engraving and aquatint on paper
Dimensions: Image: 433 x 613 mm
Collection: Tate
Acquisition: Purchased 1992
Reference: T06572

Display caption

Barry was a close friend of the politician Edmund Burke and shared his hostility to King George III's and his government's repression of the American colonies in their War of Independence (1775-83). Blake felt similarly but never produced, for such wide circulation as Barry did with this print, so direct an attack on the government. Barry makes clear his sympathy for the Americans by including a self-portrait among the mourners for the dead Britannia. She has died because the liberties which once held sway in Britain had now fled to America where, phoenix-like, they are reborn. The seventeenth century poet John Milton, who was an advocate of individual liberty, is also one of the mourners.

Gallery label, August 2004

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