Artwork
Le Ventre Législatif (The Legislative Belly)
Le Ventre Législatif (The Legislative Belly) is an ink print by the Romanticist artist Honoré Daumier. It dates from 1843 and is held in the collection of the National Gallery of Art.
About this work
Overview
Le Ventre Législatif (The Legislative Belly) is a lithograph on wove paper created by Honoré Daumier, satirizing the French legislative body through caricature.
Subject & Meaning
The print depicts a crowded room of politicians in formal attire, their facial expressions and postures conveying a range of inattentive and disinterested states, while their exaggerated corpulence is used to mock their inaction.
Technique & Style
Daumier employed lithography to produce the work, a technique allowing for the rapid creation of detailed, satirical images that could be widely disseminated.
Context
The work reflects Daumier's commentary on 19th-century French politics and governance, using satire to critique the perceived ineffectiveness of the legislative body.
Own this work as a print
Artist & collection
Artist
Honoré-Victorin Daumier was a French painter, sculptor, and printmaker, whose many works offer commentary on the social and political life in France, from the Revolution of 1830 to the fall of the Second French Empire in 1870.
