Judge — June 17, 1911 — page 1: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This illustration by James Montgomery Flagg depicts a woman being crowned by a cherub, titled "An American Queen." The accompanying verse reads: "Kind hearts are more than coronets, / And simple faith than Norman blood." The satire likely critiques American social aspirations and class pretension of the Gilded Age era. By portraying an American woman receiving a crown from a cherub (heavenly validation), Flagg suggests that American virtue and "kind hearts" deserve queenly status, surpassing European aristocratic claims based on bloodline ("Norman blood"). The work appears to be tongue-in-cheek commentary on American democratic ideals versus Old World aristocratic hierarchy—asserting that American character, not inherited nobility, confers true dignity.