Workshop of Germain Hoyau and Olivier Truschet

The Money Devil

second half of the 16th century

Woodcut in black on cream laid paper

32.6 × 47.2 cm (12.8 × 18.6 in)

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Not currently on view

In the collection of Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago · as of July 2026

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FROM THE ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO’S CATALOG

An affordable popular print aimed at a broad audience, this woodcut is a humorous but stinging satire of humanity’s unbridled lust for wealth. At the center a monstrous creature stands on top of a chest of gold coins, holding money-filled purses and a spiked iron poker. People from different ranks of society—popes, cardinals, bishops, and monks on the left; emperors, kings, noblemen, and soldiers on the right—point their weapons at the money devil. The visual joke derives from a pun in the French inscription, which uses a word that means both “aiming at” and “striving for.” This print appears to be the only surviving impression of this particular composition.

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