They all crowded round it panting and asking, 'But who has won' 

Arthur Rackham rendered this illustration with pen, ink and watercolour, creating a scene dominated by cool, muted tones and a dense composition. A menagerie of animals surrounds a young girl, all vying for attention within a compact space. Rackham masterfully employs line and texture to differentiate the various creatures, creating a rich visual tapestry. The animals' overlapping forms create a sense of depth, though the background remains ambiguously defined. We see Rackham playing with the semiotic idea of the grotesque, where elements of the animal and human worlds are hybridized, challenging our perceptions of fixed categories. This sense of ambiguity extends to the very question posed in the title, ‘But who has won?’ In this composition, the lack of a clear victor destabilizes traditional narrative expectations. The image encourages us to question the very premise of competition and victory. Rackham prompts us to consider the value systems which underpin our interpretations, reminding us that meaning is not fixed.