The Greenwich Pensioner (caricature) This robust, popular image illustrates the text of Charles Dibdin's well known song, 'The Greenwich Pensioner' which is printed below it. The Pensioner, with a prosthetic left leg, a stout stick under his left arm and a clay pipe in his left hand stands on the north side of the Thames, gesturing towards Greenwich Hospital, the Queen's House and the Royal Observatory in the background with his right hand. The stern of a small Royal Naval warship flying the red ensign is on the left, with a sprit-rigged river craft, and the Union flag flies above the Governor's House in the King Charles Court on the right. The Pensioner's position is falsely elevated, producing an aerial perspective of the Grand Square behind, with Rysbrack's statue of George II in the centre. The background design may derive from Rigaud's much earlier print of the Hospital, or similar ones which adopt this perspective.

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