Pride

In the foreground a dark human profile head becomes the shaft of a column; on top of it sits an oversized warty toad, both front feet gripping an Ionic capital scroll. Behind it, on the right, five small stone busts of men stand on tapering pedestals of decreasing size that recede toward a horizon line, one accompanied by a tiny standing figure.

Etched in dense cross-hatched lines, the composition contrasts a solid black silhouette with finely stippled gray tones and the stark white of the paper margin; the meticulous engraving technique and the fusion of anatomy, animal and architecture create an unsettling, dreamlike atmosphere.