Liberty Suspended! With the Bulwark of the Constitution! c. 1817

This satirical print, made by George Cruikshank, employs potent symbols to critique the state of British liberty. Here, Liberty hangs suspended, a direct reference to the suspension of Habeas Corpus, an ancient right dating back to the Magna Carta. This right, ensuring protection against unlawful imprisonment, is juxtaposed with the Phrygian cap of Liberty raised high. The Phrygian Cap, a symbol of freedom in antiquity, has its roots in ancient rituals. The Roman tradition of liberating slaves, where the freed were granted the “pileus,” has been reinterpreted in various revolutionary movements as the symbol of emancipation. In this print, it is wielded by a man overseeing the suspension of freedoms. The symbol, perverted here, engages viewers, provoking deep anxiety about the fragility of freedom. The symbolic weight of these motifs powerfully reveals how cultural memory shapes and charges our emotional and political landscape, constantly resurfacing, charged with new intensity.