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From the exhibition

Zoo een Boys bevalt mij zeer goed (A Boy Like That Suits Me Fine)

· 1865

Zoo een Boys bevalt mij zeer goed (A Boy Like That Suits Me Fine)
This wood engraving satirizes Dutch political figures through the meeting of two men beside a large mirror and ornamental furnishings. One figure, shown in profile with distinctive features, holds a document while regarding his reflection—a visual metaphor for vanity and self-regard in politics. The print descends from the 18th- and 19th-century tradition of European political satire, particularly the Dutch and German picture-sheet tradition, where exaggerated physical features and domestic or theatrical settings conveyed political critique. The composition recalls Rowlandson and Daumier's methods: caricature merged with narrative scene to mock personal ambition and political pretension. Such prints circulated widely as affordable popular commentary, a direct ancestor to the visual-narrative language of modern comics.

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