Il Dovere Quotidiano, or The Daily Duty, is a series of digital photomontages by Italian artist Cristina Guggeri that shows some of the world's most famous leaders sitting on the toilet. Barack Obama, Queen Elizabeth II, Vladimir Putin, Angela Merkel, Pope Francis and others appear in grand, carefully lit bathrooms, looking every bit as serious as they do in their official portraits.
The pictures are not real photographs. Guggeri, who signs her work "Krydy", built each one by combining several existing images into a new scene. The series went viral in January 2015 after Bored Panda and other sites shared it, and it has been reposted ever since, often without credit.
The idea is simple and old: power looks different when you remember that everyone shares the same basic needs. Below you will find each of the nine portraits from the original set, with a short note on who the subject is and what the setting adds to the joke.
What is The Daily Duty?
Speaking to Bored Panda, Guggeri explained that the artistic idea came from wanting to put everyone "on the same level". Her point was not only to laugh at the powerful. The title has a double meaning: the "daily duty" is both the private routine everyone performs and the public duty that voters expect from the people they put in charge.
Each portrait follows the same formula. The subject faces the camera, sitting upright with trousers or robes lowered, while the room around them reflects their public persona: palace chandeliers for a queen, an arched hall for a pope, gold for a billionaire. Nothing explicit is shown. The humour comes from the contrast between dignified faces and an undignified moment.
How the photomontages were made
Photomontage means assembling a new image from parts of different photographs. Guggeri has said the technique offers artistic possibilities that painting does not, but that it demands patience: lighting, skin tones, perspective and shadows all have to match before the result looks believable.
Every image in the series carries a visible credit reading "Photomontage" with her name. That label matters, because pictures like these are sometimes shared as if they were leaked photos. They are not: they are openly labelled satire.
The nine portraits
Barack Obama
The then US president sits between classical columns in a marble washroom, shirt sleeves rolled up and tie still on. Obama served two terms, from 2009 to 2017, so he was in office when the series appeared in early 2015. The columns echo the official architecture of Washington, turning the joke on the grandeur of the office itself.
Queen Elizabeth II
The Queen sits beneath a crystal chandelier in pearls and a floral dress, hands folded and expression composed. Elizabeth II was the longest-reigning British monarch, on the throne from 1952 until her death in 2022. Guggeri keeps her famous calm intact, which is exactly what makes the image funny.
Vladimir Putin
Russia's president sits upright in a plain tiled cubicle, hands clasped, with a stern and watchful look. Compared with the palaces given to other subjects, the setting is strikingly austere, perhaps a nod to the tough image Putin has cultivated since first taking power in 2000.
Angela Merkel
Germany's chancellor appears against bright red walls in one of the coloured jackets that became her trademark. Merkel led Germany from 2005 to 2021 and was often described as the most powerful woman in the world. Her hands rest neatly in her lap, mirroring a pose familiar from countless official photographs.
Pope Francis
The pontiff sits in white robes under white arches on a dark red backdrop that looks like a throne room. Francis, the first pope from Latin America, led the Catholic Church from 2013 until his death in 2025, and was known for his simple lifestyle. The image plays with the contrast between papal ceremony and ordinary human needs.
Silvio Berlusconi
The former Italian prime minister is surrounded by swirling gold walls, a fitting backdrop for a media billionaire famous for his lavish lifestyle. Berlusconi served as Italy's prime minister four times between 1994 and 2011 and died in 2023. For an Italian artist, he was perhaps the most obvious subject of all.
Mario Draghi
The banker sits in a marble bathroom with his chin resting on his hand, deep in thought. In 2015 Draghi was president of the European Central Bank, best remembered for promising in 2012 to do "whatever it takes" to save the euro; he later served as Italy's prime minister from 2021 to 2022.
Benjamin Netanyahu
Israel's prime minister sits in a dark marble room lit by brass wall lamps, looking straight at the viewer. Netanyahu is Israel's longest-serving prime minister, having first held the office in 1996. The formal, almost ceremonial setting matches the series' habit of giving each subject a room that suits their public image.
The Dalai Lama
The Tibetan spiritual leader appears in maroon and saffron robes and sandals, in a room of red and gold that recalls a temple. Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th Dalai Lama, has lived in exile in India since 1959 and received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1989. His relaxed smile makes this one of the gentlest images in the set.
Satire with a long tradition
Bringing rulers down to earth is one of the oldest moves in satire. Ancient comic playwrights mocked generals and politicians by name, and caricaturists such as James Gillray drew kings and prime ministers in absurd situations centuries before digital editing existed. Guggeri's series belongs to the same tradition, swapping ink for pixels.
The series also kept growing. Guggeri told Bored Panda the project was still in progress, and by 2017 French coverage showed newer additions including Donald Trump, Emmanuel Macron, and historical figures such as Joseph Stalin and Mao Zedong. According to the artist, people mostly "reacted with a sense of humor".
Why the joke still works
The pictures work because they are gentle. They do not invent scandals or put words in anyone's mouth; they simply remind viewers that heads of state, popes and central bankers live in bodies like everyone else. That can be a healthy corrective in a world of carefully managed official images.
If you share images like these, keep the artist's name attached and make it clear they are photomontages. Satire works best when everyone knows it is satire.
Sources: Bored Panda: The Daily Duty by Cristina Guggeri; Elite Daily, 14 January 2015; Demotivateur, 20 September 2017 (in French); Cristina Guggeri (artist's site).
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