A New Method to Come to Truth, Dedicated to Young Theologians at Leiden

This Dutch satirical print mocks theological training through chaotic violence. Figures wielding books, clubs, and banners—labeled with scholastic terms like "Orthodoxy" and "Pentateuch"—assault one another while clergy and academics tumble in the fray. The wood engraving format and composition recall the German Bilderbogen tradition: crowded frames packed with symbolic detail and physical comedy to expose institutional absurdity.

Published during religious controversy at Leiden University, the print descends from Hogarth and Gillray's model of political mockery through exaggerated figure and slapstick narrative. Such satirical prints formed a direct tradition leading to modern comic art—combining caricature, sequence, and textual labels to critique authority with visual wit rather than respectful argument.