Cabinetul lui Dimitrie Sturdza

Nicolae Petrescu-Găină's colored lithograph depicts the cabinet of Romanian Prime Minister Dimitrie Sturdza as a crowded stage of competing political figures, military officers, clerics, and caricatured foreigners. The composition descends from 19th-century European satirical print traditions—particularly German Bilderbogen sheets and the work of Daumier and Nast—where complex political scenes were rendered in dense, theatrical arrangements. Individual figures are exaggerated through physiognomy and costume to signal their roles and allegiances. The print employs period ethnic and class caricature conventions to mock Sturdza's coalition government and its perceived instability. This mode of political illustration, combining visual humor with sharp observation of power structures, directly influenced the development of comic narrative in newspapers and early comic books.