Anti-Catholic Satire: The Priest as Colorado Beetle

This Dutch print attacks Roman Catholic clergy through satirical imagery. The figure labeled LARF (an acronym for a religious order) appears as both a suited gentleman and insect. The comparison to the Colorado beetle—an agricultural pest devastating European crops—references a common anti-Catholic propaganda trope of clerics as destructive invasive species. Printed as a wood engraving or etching, this sheet descends from Gillray and Daumier's tradition of political caricature, adapting their visual language to sectarian polemic. Such imagery circulated widely in Bilderbogen picture-sheets and popular prints, establishing conventions that would influence comic art.