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From the exhibition

Spotprent op J.C. Backer, C. Seyn en S. van der Paauw

· 1839

Spotprent op J.C. Backer, C. Seyn en S. van der Paauw
This Dutch satirical print attacks three political figures through vignettes of corruption and incompetence. At top, Justice holds unbalanced scales over a dense forest—suggesting compromised judgment. Left panel shows a baker stoking his oven, center depicts a portly official with ledgers and wine bottles, right presents a peacock near classical columns. The hand-colored etching employs the visual vocabulary of Northern European caricature tradition—exaggerated physiognomy, symbolic props, and compartmentalized scenes—descended from Hogarth and Gillray. Such prints circulated widely in the nineteenth century, embedding political critique in accessible comic imagery that prefigured modern editorial cartooning and the visual language of sequential art.

Public domain, restored and presented by comicbooks.com http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/