1-150-226 - The Cartoon Collector/Heritage-Images

'Babes in the Wood', 1859. Napoleon III left the Regency of France in the hands of the Empress Eugenie and left Paris to join the Italian army. The Franco-Austrian war began on 26th April 1859. Napoleon met King Victor Emmanuel of Italy at Genoa on 13th May 1859. This cartoon depicts Napoleon facing up to the representative of the Austrian army, identifiable by the two-headed eagle emblem on his back. In the background, Victor Emmanuel of Sardinia (crowned King Victor Emmanuel II of Italy at Turin in 1861) shields an anxious Italy as she awaits the outcome of the battle. From Punch, or the London Charivari, May 28, 1859.