Two Lawyers 

Honoré Daumier captured these Two Lawyers in oil paint, sometime in the mid-19th century in France. Their dark robes and severe expressions situate them within the formal, and often unforgiving, world of the French legal system. Daumier worked during a period of significant social and political change in France. The French Revolution, with its emphasis on equality and justice, was still a relatively recent memory, yet the society remained highly stratified. The legal profession, as a pillar of the establishment, was often viewed with suspicion and even contempt by the working class. Daumier himself had a complicated relationship with the institutions of art. While he exhibited in the official Salons, he also produced lithographs for popular newspapers that directly criticized the government and satirized the bourgeoisie. His images of lawyers are rarely flattering, often portraying them as corrupt or out of touch with the realities of everyday life. To truly understand Daumier's commentary here, one might delve into the archives of French political journals from the time and the records of prominent court cases. We can then begin to appreciate how this image resonates within a broader social and institutional context.