La Tribulation (Fifth Trial)

This hand-colored etching depicts a domestic scene of marital discord, with a man gesturing wildly while his wife and attendants react with alarm or resignation. A bicycle leans against the wall—an anachronistic detail that signals the print's satirical intent. The composition draws from the Hogarth-Gillray tradition of sequential moral narrative, using exaggerated postures and expressions to expose human folly. The French caption promises "no exit" and "exercise of patience," framing marriage as tribulation. This print belongs to the 19th-century European caricature trade that chronicled domestic life and social tensions through print satire, directly prefiguring the narrative sequences and social commentary that would later define the comic strip and graphic storytelling traditions.