Court clerks, notaries and lawyers

This engraving comes from one of the most popular entertainment books in the 16th century. It is a collection of satirical tales inspired by classical sources (Cato, Valerius Maximus, Frontinus, Horace) and humanists (Bocaccio) which, like moralizing exempla, aim to instruct by delighting. This illustration shows several characters developing a job reLated to records, deeds and judicial issues. The scene is represented with great detail (furniture, clothes) and we see, for example, two of them – one in profile and the other from behind – writing and reading a document, while others, behind a counter, serve a client or review a piece of writing. The note of humor is placed by the dog in the center of the composition observing said works.