Avons saisi dito... un pot a eau, sans eau 1845

Honoré Daumier made this lithograph sometime in the 19th century. The print depicts three men of justice, as the title states, and in the foreground a seized water jug, without water, reads the caption. Daumier made many such prints for the French newspapers. Here, he satirizes the pomposity of the French legal system with his signature wit. The judges are drawn with grotesque features; one holds aloft a feather, likely meant for writing decrees. The room is sparsely furnished, suggesting the emptiness of their justice. Daumier was deeply influenced by the social and political turmoil in France at the time. It's clear that he saw the justice system as corrupt and ineffective, more concerned with procedure than with actual justice. A study of French legal history of the period, along with the artist's other prints, clarifies the themes and context of this artwork. The true meaning of art emerges when we consider its social and institutional context.