When we think of caricatures we often imagine a newspaper with black and white cartoons. The pictures illustrate a story in the paper, so they are topical to the events of the day. The creation of caricatures however started many years ago.
In ancient Greece, actors wore masks on stage with exaggerated features to show the character of the person they were playing. And in the Middle Ages artists, tired of painting people in flattering ways, drew pictures of people with unusual or ugly faces.
It wasn't until the seventeenth century that Dutch court artists made caricatures about political events. At around the same time French artists were offering to create portrait caricatures for customers in London's coffee shops.
Caricatures as we think of them today started in the eighteenth century when ordinary people had more freedom to say what they thought of their political leaders.
Want to find out more about historical caricatures?
Click here to search the National Portrait Gallery collection
