Dangereux effet des pâtes orientales [The dangerous effect of oriental noodles], plate 2 from Revers des médailles [The Other Side of the Coin, in La Caricature, 29 March 1840

Gavarni was almost exclusively a satirical printmaker and second only to Daumier in acuteness during the nineteenth century in France. In this characteristic print, the obese, middle-class child accompanied by his large dog stands with ironic portrayals of aristocratic counterparts framed on the wall behind him. The humor in this print comes from the artist's allusions to traditional allegorical figures of Gluttony in art within this contemporary scene. Representing one of the Seven Deadly Sins, images of Gluttony were held out as moralizing examples since the middle ages. The inscription provides an additional ironic twist to this print as it implies that the cause of the contour of the child's belly is his delicate system, rather than his over-eating. Published in La Caricature, 29 March 1840; published in Le Charivari, 12 November 1842