They were invented by J-C Pellerin inthe 18th century in Epinal, France, hence the name.
Some kind of pictures of the same kind already existed in the 15th century. They were meant to educate illiterate people on moral or religious issues.
They were naive and often illustrated tales, legends or religous stories.
They can also be considered the ancestors of comics. The colours that were mainly used were blue, red, yellow, green and black.
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