Bețivi (Drunkards)

Constantin Jiquidi's pen-and-ink sketch depicts two inebriated men stumbling together, their disheveled clothing and exaggerated facial features rendering them types rather than individuals. One figure steadies the other in a moment of mutual dependence, while a bottle lies abandoned at their feet. Executed in the academic caricature tradition descending from Hogarth and Rowlandson, this work employs physiognomic distortion and visual exaggeration to depict intoxication and social transgression. Such satirical studies populated European salon exhibitions and periodicals, establishing visual codes that would influence early comic art.