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A caricature is an exaggerated portrait of a person or group in either a visual or literary form. Caricature is actually quite an ancient art, with some examples of caricature being thousands of years old, ranging from the plays of Aristophanes to the editorial pages of the local paper. This art form is quite diverse, with a number of famous practitioners throughout history, ranging from Leonardo Da Vinci to Thomas Nast. You can probably find an example of caricature in your vicinity, especially if you have a paper handy, because most political cartoons take advantage of caricature.
One of the distinguishing features of caricature is the tendency to overemphasize well-known features of the subject. For example, someone who is famous for having a very distinctive nose might find the size of that nose grossly exaggerated in a caricature. Teeth, lips, and ears may also be blown out of proportion in a caricature, leading some people to call the resulting image grotesque or unpleasant.
Zapiro is a very well known political Caricaturist uses cartoons to drive home a point.
