David Hess Art

David Hess was born in Switzerland. He followed his family tradition and embarked on a military career, serving from 1787–96 in Holland with the Swiss Guards. Before 1874, when foreign military service was outlawed by the Swiss Constitution, the Swiss Guards were based at various European Courts. Hess witnessed at close quarters the massacre of his fellow guardsmen by French Revolutionary troops and remained a fierce critic of post-revolutionary politics for the rest of his life, which saw the restoration of the monarchic regimes after The Congress of Wien. Hess expressed his strong visions and opinions in his literary writings and a series of powerful caricatures. He was particularly critical of the Dutch Bataafse Republiek (Batavian Republic), modeled on post-revolutionary France.