Existing comment:
The fifteenth century saw the emergence of many kinds of humorous images. Caricature, the inevitable counterpart to the Renaissance study of natural appearance, tended toward generic facial types in Italian works and broad exaggeration in northern ones. In Italy and at sophisticated European courts, parody drew from mythology and subjects of high art, while across the North it usually relied upon folktales and popular imagery. Whatever the source, excessive bodily function - sexual and excretory - and, above all, the consumption of alcohol, were favorite subjects. The stark, often violent contrast between high ideals -- political, religious, and ethical -- and the realities of daily life invited satire on hypocrisy and the human condition. The proverbial Ship of Fools, ironic utopias, and archetypal antiheroes recurred often in this universally dark humor. Satirical images of specific persons, events, and behaviors became common only toward the end of the period, to dominate in the following centuries. |