Spotprent met de voorzitter van de Tweede Kamer Mr. Dullert, 1873 1873

This caricature of Mr. Dullert, Chairman of the Dutch House of Representatives, was etched by Johan Michaël Schmidt Crans in 1873. Dullert stands on a stage, gesturing with an open hand and holding a hat. The open gesture is an ancient symbol of offering and welcome. Echoes of this can be found in classical depictions of orators, their hands outstretched to persuade and engage their audience. Yet, the context here transforms its meaning. The stage and the hat suggest a performance, turning Dullert into an actor, a "régisseur" as the inscription says, who is staging the public. This transformation reveals the psychological weight of political imagery, where sincerity and manipulation intertwine. We see the cyclical return of archetypes, shaped and reshaped across time. As we delve deeper, we find not progress but a continuous negotiation between the eternal patterns of human behavior and their contemporary expression.