"Only his belly was remarkable" from Scenes from the Private and Public Life of Animals 1832 - 1852

J.J. Grandville made this lithograph titled "Only his belly was remarkable" as part of "Scenes from the Private and Public Life of Animals." In it, we see animals dressed as humans enacting scenes that satirize 19th-century French society. The artist uses visual codes to represent the social classes of the time. Here, a well-dressed crocodile with a bulging belly represents the bourgeoisie, whose wealth and consumption were growing. The figure collapsed at his feet might be understood as representing the working classes, impoverished and oppressed. Grandville's work appeared in books and magazines, helping to shape public opinion. Artists used caricatures to challenge social structures and expose inequalities during the July Monarchy and the rise of the bourgeoisie. This image is overtly progressive, critiquing the growing divide between the haves and have-nots in French society. Historians use sources like newspapers, political pamphlets, and popular culture imagery to investigate art’s meaning as something closely tied to its social and institutional context.