De Herschepping der Professoraale Kees (The Remaking of Professor Kees)

This Dutch satirical engraving mocks intellectuals who supported radical political reform during the Patriot movement. A towering figure in academic dress holds a pike—symbol of revolutionary violence—while a smaller, armed patriot looks on. Books and papers lie scattered below, suggesting learning corrupted by ideology. The print's text warns that "Student KEES" should not "drill" like professors or grasp the "pike-handle." Created as the Dutch Golden Age faced internal political turmoil, this work exemplifies the caricature tradition descending from Hogarth and Gillray: satiric engravings targeting specific groups through exaggerated physique and costume. The genre would eventually feed into popular prints, broadsides, and ultimately the sequential narrative forms of modern comics.