Satire on the Dismissal of Governor-General Mortanges

This Dutch wood engraving depicts a boat labeled "GEDEH" sinking in rough seas, with figures labeled A, B, and C struggling aboard. A cross (D) looms above—symbol of the Great Lord. The caption identifies the drowning men as the governor-general and his successor. The print exemplifies the 19th-century tradition of political satire inherited from Gillray and Rowlandson, using exaggeration and visual metaphor to critique authority. The sinking vessel represents events in the Dutch East Indies. Such satirical prints circulated widely among literate publics, employing visual wit—a direct ancestor to editorial cartooning and the sequential narrative conventions of comics.