In this etching from 1889, Ensor sharply criticised the political situation of his time. King Leopold II is shown in the company of the country's two leading parties: on the right the liberals consisting of the army and the bourgeoisie, on the left the Church. The rulers are feeding their followers from the bourgeoisie, the clergy and the army with their excrements. In their hands they hold placards with the demands of the people. Ensor's vision of the political and social situation in Belgium at that time is also expressed in the etching "Belgium in the 19th century" (inv. 1998-B-81).
