M'Arlépamie

This lithograph depicts a portly gentleman in formal dress, hunched and gesturing with a handkerchief—a figure of ridicule captured through caricature's exaggerated anatomy and pose. The print exemplifies 19th-century French satirical lithography, a medium that democratized political and social commentary by allowing rapid, affordable mass production. Following the tradition of Hogarth and Gillray, and contemporary with Daumier's biting social satire, such prints targeted recognizable public figures and types—here suggesting bourgeois pretension or hypocrisy through physical deformation. The lithographic process enabled fine detail and subtle shading visible here, making caricature an influential form preceding modern comics. These populist prints shaped how subsequent generations visualized satire, combining visual distortion with social critique in ways that directly influenced comic art's development.