Fancied Security, or the Rats on a Bender

Art Historical Context

Louis Maurer’s 1856 print “Fancied Security, or the Rats on Bender” offers a lively example of mid-nineteenth-century political satire. Created as a hand-colored lithograph, the work places a barnyard scene at its center, where rats stand in for prominent public figures of the day. The title hints at a false sense of safety amid chaotic or self-serving behavior, a common device in the era’s visual commentary on elections and scandals. The cast of characters—among them presidential candidates James Buchanan, John C. Frémont, and Millard Fillmore, along with newspaper publisher Horace Greeley, ...