New Year's Guard Change, 1862–1863

This wood engraving satirizes the Dutch military changing of the guard as the year turns. Three soldiers in tall plumed hats stand rigidly before a fortified position, their rifles and shovels marking them as both armed and laboring figures. The central guard, taller and more imposing, represents continuity amid transition. The print belongs to the Northern European tradition of political satire—descended from Hogarth and Gillray—in which military and administrative routine becomes a subject for public mockery. The dense crosshatching and fine detail typical of wood engraving allowed sharp social commentary to circulate widely in periodicals. The caption references the relieving of garrisons and military discipline.