Volume 1
half of the 1860s, Daumier conscientiously continued to depict allegories. Elle en a usé du papier la diplomatie en 1867 (1867), La Pénélope Moderne (1868), and Comme Sisyphe (1869) are but a few examples of lithographs of this nature, which could form the basis for a separate scholarly paper. By producing allegories that were emotionally charged and direct in imparting their messages, Daumier provided his prints with a distinct irony meant to have a lasting effect on people’s memories. The break out of the FrancoPrussian War in July 1870 underlined the worsening power relations Daumier was alluding to in his lithographs. It was exactly this type of calamity that Daumier profoundly resented, and ultimately, reinforces the overtly social function of his images as powerful means of visual communication.
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