De goede rechters 1894

"De goede rechters" (The Good Judges), a 1894 etching by Belgian artist James Ensor, satirizes the Belgian legal system. The artwork depicts a group of judges, grotesquely caricatured with exaggerated features, in a courtroom setting. Ensor’s use of dark humor and grotesque imagery was characteristic of his work, and he often explored themes of social commentary and human folly. The work demonstrates Ensor's masterful skill in etching, a process that involves using a needle to create lines on a metal plate that is then used to print the image onto paper. The etching's detail and expressiveness are amplified by the contrast of light and dark tones.