La Sainte Alliance (The Holy Alliance)

This Dutch political print mocks an unlikely coalition between Catholic clergy and liberal politicians against the Dutch government. The three-panel structure—Avant (Before), Pendant (During), Après (After)—uses sequential narrative to satirize the alliance's trajectory. On the left, the figures embrace in apparent solidarity; in the center, they maintain their compact; on the right, the smaller figure lies defeated and abandoned, having served his partners' interests. The lithograph employs the visual language of Gillray and Daumier, using body language, costume, and scale to expose hypocrisy and self-interest. The print reflects 19th-century Dutch religious and political tensions, ridiculing both the clergy and liberals through crude caricature conventions typical of its era.