A 19th-century Russian judge assembled this remarkable collection of folk art prints that used humor and satire to mock everything from emperors to elaborate hairstyles.
Dimitrii Aleksandrovich Rovinskii, a high-ranking Moscow jurist, devoted his spare time to collecting lubki — colorful Russian prints that first emerged in the 1500s as cheap substitutes for religious icons. As published in The Public Domain Review, these vibrant forerunners to comic strips evolved to tackle both sacred and secular subjects, often using political commentary hidden beneath whimsical imagery.
"The spirit of medieval popular humor permeates these colorful forerunners of comic strips," said scholar Dianne Ecklund Farrell, as quoted in The Public Domain Review. Apart from their political messages and satire, I adore the vibrant colors and whimsical style of these prints. If I hadn't read about the context of these prints, I'd think they were pages from old fairy tales where mythological creatures roamed the earth.
See also: Art in the age of artifice
