Karikaturale kop van een man met een hoed en stok en een haas 1840 - 1868

Johannes Tavenraat rendered this caricature of a man with a hat, a walking stick, and a hare with pen and ink. The symbols of the man's attire and the hare are heavy with cultural baggage. The walking stick, a signifier of authority and journeying, has ancient roots, appearing in Egyptian art and mythology as a symbol of power. Yet, here, the figure is rendered with such swift, mocking lines, that the stick seems more a prop in a comic play than a scepter of command. Observe the hare. Across cultures, the hare is a symbol of fertility and timidity, a creature associated with both lunar cycles and the hunt. But the hare appears to be fleeing the scene. Consider how these images have evolved and resurfaced through history, acquiring new meanings in changing contexts. It begs the question: What does it mean when symbols of power and abundance are caricatured, undermined by the artist's hand?