Reynard communes with a circle of various animals c. 17th century

Curator: Look at this, would you? Allart van Everdingen’s "Reynard communes with a circle of various animals." It’s like a dream I had once, where all creatures great and small convened for a woodland opera. Editor: My first thought is about the etching itself. It's so small, less than 10 by 12 centimeters! The work that must have gone into that level of detail with those tools... Incredible craft. Curator: Precisely! There’s a strange harmony despite the inherent tensions. Reynard, the fox, usually the trickster, seems almost… meditative. Is he really one with them, or is this the calm before the storm? Editor: Considering the probable context, the source material being fables, I wouldn’t be surprised to learn that the materials used for the press were being recycled. Scraps used by the burgeoning merchant classes? The images themselves are a commentary of this very community. Curator: You’ve got me thinking… it’s more than just animals. It's about power, class, and the eternal dance between predator and prey, beautifully rendered on what might have been used rags. Editor: Van Everdingen packs so much into this small piece. And for me, it’s more than just a picture; it’s a window into the material conditions of its time. Curator: Yes, seeing it through your eyes, I appreciate how the artist used accessible means to illustrate timeless stories, accessible on both a symbolic and, literally, material level.