This caricature, which was published in the comic journal La Caricature, depicted the French King Louis Phillippe as Gargantua, the namesake from a book written by Rabelais, which was considered obscene, crude, and vulgar. Similarly to Daumier’s works, Gargantua delved into a social commentary, searching into the meaning of words and how or when they were considered obscene, as well as the many social institutions and their effectiveness and reasoning. Because of this drawing portraying the king in an unfavorable light, Daumier was imprisoned for six months at Saint Pelagic. After his release and return to society, the journal that published Daumier’s works, La Caricature, soon after discontinued circulation.
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