De Lachende Law, de Treurende Actonist en de Smekende Mercurius, 1720 1720

This satirical print titled "The Laughing Law, the Mourning Shareholder, and the Pleading Mercury" was made in 1720 by an anonymous artist, and it captures the frenzy and fallout of the early 18th-century financial crisis known as the Mississippi Bubble. The print is a critical commentary on the speculative mania that gripped France, implicating key figures like John Law, the architect of the Mississippi Company. We see Law here as a central figure, his stance suggesting a mix of culpability and detachment. The "mourning shareholder" and "pleading Mercury" symbolize those ruined by the speculative bubble, highlighting the devastating impact on individual lives. Mercury, the god of commerce, begs for help. The artist uses the print to not only document but also to critique the social inequalities exacerbated by the crisis. The print becomes a mirror reflecting the anxieties and moral questions of a society grappling with the consequences of unchecked financial speculation, leaving us to wonder who benefits and who suffers in the cycles of boom and bust.