Description
Lado Gudiashvili's 1935 illustration "Salary" (originally titled "The Last Consolation") is a sharp satirical exposure of embezzlers of state funds and corrupt officials. The drawing depicts a predatory wolf carrying a captured sheep up a cliff in its mouth, with the word "Salary" clearly written on the sheep. This caricature symbolically represents those greedy bureaucrats and heads of institutions who hijack salary funds intended for workers and use them for personal or other non-targeted purposes. The irony of the illustration is particularly sharpened by the wolf's cynical phrase, where it addresses its victim, telling it not to worry because it only wants what is good for it and will place it in a spot where it will supposedly be protected. This metaphor accurately conveys the hypocritical nature of embezzlers, who often covered up their criminal actions and misappropriation of funds with various false, ostensible excuses, while in reality, they were stealing the compensation belonging to the working people.
