Illustration for ‘The Mutiny of the Mavericks’

Artist: William Strang

1901

Kipling, Rudyard. A Series of Thirty Etchings by William Strang, plate 5.

The story concerns the ‘Mavericks’ – an Irish regiment within the British army that was infiltrated by Fenians with the intention of undermining the soldiers’ effectiveness. Strang’s illustration is a representation of the violent death of Mulcahy, focusing on the pain and terror of the very moment of death; the showing of the blade as it enters his chest is unusual, even in images of violence and fighting. The dynamic, diagonalized composition is enhanced by the expression on Mulcahy’s face, and the overall effect is grisly and repugnant, as if glimpsed as a scene in Hell. [Click on the image to enlarge it, and put the mouse over the text for links.]