Satire op de aansporing tot deelneming in de (zogenaamde) vrijwillige 3% geldlening van 1844 (blad 7) 1844

This is a page of lithographs by Herman Frederik Carel ten Kate, made in the Netherlands in 1844. The prints satirize the call for participation in the so-called voluntary 3% loan of that year, which was in effect a tax increase. The images create meaning through visual metaphors drawn from everyday life. The artist comments on social structures of his time by drawing connections between the articles of the proposed law and absurd or unjust situations: livestock taken for taxes, vultures preying on the poor, possessions burned. The title, 'Law of Preservation, Love and Rescue', hints at the artist's ironic and critical intent. As historians, we use sources like newspapers, pamphlets, and government documents to understand the context and implications of this kind of social critique. The meaning of art is contingent on its social and institutional context.