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From the exhibition

Model for a Memorial to the United Ministries of Religion, Justice, and Foreign Affairs

· 1862

Model for a Memorial to the United Ministries of Religion, Justice, and Foreign Affairs
This Dutch wood engraving satirizes a proposed merger of three government ministries. Lady Justice stands balanced on an ornate pedestal, holding her scales while anchored to a classical column inscribed with the three merged departments. The circular motto reads "Hant Civemque Veneranda" (Revered by Citizens). The artist mocks bureaucratic consolidation through the precarious pose and architectural metaphor—suggesting the union threatens justice's stability. Created in the 19th-century tradition of political prints descended from Gillray and Daumier, this engraving exemplifies how satirists used allegorical figures and architectural absurdity to critique governance, prefiguring visual satire's evolution into modern editorial cartooning and sequential art.

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