Fox With Two Herons

ca. 1630–40

Not on view

A close collaborator with Rubens, Snyders was a leading animal painter of his time and one of the first to represent Aesop's "Fables" on a large scale. This drawing is preparatory for an oil of about 1630-1640 that is now in the Memorial Art Gallery of the University of Rochester. The artist has freely combined elements from two fables: "The Fox and the Heron (or the stork)" and "The Frogs Who Asked for a King." The first story tells how the heron repays the fox's lack of hospitality by serving him a meal in a long-necked bottle from which he cannot eat. In the second, the frogs pester Zeus with repeated requests for a ruler and are given in succession a log, an eel and, finally, a heron. The last ruler gobbles them up one by one. The respective morals are "one bad turn deserves another" and "better no king than a bad one."

Artwork Details

Overview

Signatures, Inscriptions, and Markings

Provenance

Exhibition History

Title: Fox With Two Herons
Artist: Frans Snyders (Flemish, Antwerp 1579–1657 Antwerp)
Date: ca. 1630–40
Medium: Pen and brown ink, brush and brown wash, over traces of black chalk
Dimensions: 7 5/16 x 10 15/16 in. (18.5 x 27.8 cm)
Classification: Drawings
Credit Line: Mary Oenslager Fund, 2001
Object Number: 2001.112
Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints

More Artwork

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Lions at Play, Two Lions and a Lioness

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Henry Mackworth

second half 18th century

Lions at Play

Multiple artists/makers

1769

Portrait of Nicolas Trigault in Chinese Costume, Peter Paul Rubens Flemish, Black, red, and white chalk, blue pastel, and pen and brown and black ink on light brown laid paper — Portrait of Nicolas Trigault in Chinese Costume
Peter Paul Rubens
1617

Queen Esther Approaching the Palace of Ahasuerus, Claude Lorrain (Claude Gellée) French, Pen and brown ink, brush and brown wash, heightened with white, over black chalk — Queen Esther Approaching the Palace of Ahasuerus
Claude Lorrain (Claude Gellée)
1658

Scrapbook of Drawings and Prints, Gideon Saint British, Pen and ink, engraving and etching — Scrapbook of Drawings and Prints
Gideon Saint
ca. 1760

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