The Nobleman is the Spider and the Peasant is the Fly

Jacques Lagniet, a printmaker, was active on quai de la M�gisserie in Paris after 1650. He produced various series of Proverbes, published between 1657 and 1663. In the engraving reproduced here he adopted a harsh tone; in a clear and simple layout he employed the accusing, if resigned, tone of moralizing broadsheets: Nobles are spiders, peasants are flies.