Het Geldersche Zwijn (The Gelderland Pig)

This Dutch political engraving depicts a pig with a human head in profile, gorging from a basket labeled 'Bernstorf,' surrounded by scattered coins and text referencing 'de Uijle' (the owl). The print exemplifies late 18th-century Dutch satirical tradition, attacking political corruption and mismanagement during the Patriot period. The metamorphosed animal—a classical device inherited from Renaissance emblem books and refined by Hogarth and Gillray—conveys moral judgment through grotesque anatomy. Inscribed verse mocks greed and poor governance. Produced as a hand-colored engraving, this single-sheet print reached broad audiences during political crisis, functioning as the era's equivalent to modern editorial cartooning and presaging the comic sheet traditions of the 19th century.