Wonderbare historie van den heer en madame / Croquemitaine / Histoire curieuse de monsieur et madame / Croquemitaine 1856 - 1900

This print, made by Glenisson & Zonen, presents us with the curious tale of Monsieur and Madame Croquemitaine, a narrative distilled into a series of vignettes. The images are dominated by the recurring motif of domesticity turned darkly comic, a theme resonating with primal fears of the home as a site of both comfort and conflict. Observe how Madame Croquemitaine wields her broom or whip, a gesture laden with the anxieties of domestic power, echoing the mythical figure of the shrew—a symbol that can be traced back through centuries of folklore and cautionary tales. This echoes in art history, finding itself re-animated in domestic scenes of artists like Hogarth. The Croquemitaines evoke not just laughter but a deeper unease, tapping into a collective memory of familial strife and the subversion of expected roles. The visual shorthand is a potent reminder of how symbols endure and evolve, carrying with them layers of cultural baggage that surface in the most unexpected of places.