The Good (Pure White) Shepherd

Nast draws a figure in animal skins and simian features with one hand raised toward a glowing gas-globe lamp while gripping a shepherd's crook, standing before a pulpit bearing a large Bible. Behind him, a congregation of animals and grotesques flees through a doorway. A placard on the wall quotes Psalms against rebellion. The caption below recounts a real incident: a Black woman who took a front pew at a Richmond-area Episcopal church was expelled before services began, the rector deciding the easiest solution was to dismiss the entire congregation. Through irony, Nast depicts the Christian shepherd driving out his flock rather than integrating it.