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

Object Information
  • 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

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