A Synod Divided: Ecclesiastical Politics at Dordt

This wood engraving depicts the Synod of Dordt, a major Protestant church council convened to settle theological disputes over predestination. The composition shows a packed assembly hall with competing factions—clergy and laymen crowded on tiered benches, a presiding figure at center, and a dove descending from above symbolizing the Holy Spirit's absent guidance. The Latin title ironically asks how the invisible church can find earthly peace through synods, answering: only through separation.

The print exemplifies early modern religious satire, using architectural perspective and crowded figural detail to mock institutional hypocrisy. Such engravings—whether German Bilderbogen sheets, Dutch spotprenten, or later Hogarth and Gillray compositions—established visual comedy as a tool for political and doctrinal critique, laying groundwork for editorial cartooning and sequential narrative art.