Arlequin Deodad, o Pamirge Hypochondriagues (Harlequin Deodad, or Panurge the Hypochondriac)

This Dutch-language engraving satirizes Louis XIV's intervention in English succession politics through a theatrical scene populated by costumed figures and commedia dell'arte characters. The composition centers on a central male figure addressing a crowd in an ornate interior; numbered captions in Dutch and French below identify specific characters and their spoken lines. The print exemplifies the Northern European tradition of political satire through printmaking—a practice extending from Reformation broadsheets through 17th-century engravings into the caricature lineage of Hogarth, Gillray, and later political cartoonists. Such topical engravings functioned as illustrated commentary on current events, merging visual wit with textual annotation. The theatrical framing and numbered-figure system anticipate the sequential panel narratives that would eventually develop into the modern comic strip.