From the exhibition
Dutch Political Print on James II and the Arrival of William III
· 1689

This engraved satire depicts a harbor scene crowded with figures in seventeenth-century dress, with ships and flags visible at right. Dutch and English text below identifies the print as commentary on the Glorious Revolution—the forced departure of James II and William III's invasion of England. The composition combines multiple narrative moments: formal ceremonies, kneeling subjects, and military pageantry. Typical of Northern European political prints, it employs crowded staging, facial exaggeration, and symbolic props to mock or celebrate dynastic upheaval. Such engravings circulated widely as propaganda and popular entertainment, establishing the tradition of political caricature that would flourish through Gillray and Rowlandson into the modern editorial cartoon and comics form.
Public domain, restored and presented by comicbooks.com http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/