Gillray's Artistic Development

What is immediately apparent in comparing The Liberty of the Subject with Grace Before Meat... is the greater sophistication of the drawing. The figures are fuller, more animated, and the faces better differentiated. There is also a much improved rendering of perspective and a greater sense of design. Note, for instance how the buildings in the background with the central dome of St Paul's and the opposing broom handle and club all direct our gaze to the central figure of the sailor. Even the diagonal of the second church in the background is picked up in his forward thrusting leg. Coming approximately six months after his enrollment at the Royal Academy, the print may be Gillray's first attempt to apply his academic studies to a practical and payable end. The Recruiting Act was passed in 1778 and a revision to it was already underway in 1779, so the topic was fresh in the minds of Gillray's audience.