Fabel van het hert in de ossenstal 1567 - 1617

Curator: Welcome. We’re standing before "Fable of the Deer in the Ox Stall," an engraving and woodcut created between 1567 and 1617 by Marcus Gheeraerts I. Editor: It's striking how much narrative tension the artist manages to build into such a small print. There’s a clear sense of claustrophobia evoked through these tight, cross-hatched lines. Curator: Gheeraerts was a master of imbuing his images with symbolic weight. The fable itself, of course, presents a deceptive scenario, the deer seeking refuge in the most ironic of places. The meaning is so heavy. Editor: That tight space seems to magnify everything. See how the parallel lines define not just form, but also the very quality of light in the stall. We get textures: coarse hair of the ox, prickly straw bedding, and the smooth plane of the door behind the man, for example. Curator: Notice how the boy pushing at the deer almost seems oblivious to the animal’s plight? It reminds me of age-old themes of naivety versus cunning. The contrast between them is so potent. The stag itself represents innocence betrayed, right? Editor: Interesting how the figure holds a staff which bisects the entire composition. How central this device is as the driving tension point. Is it literally and metaphorically poking at a secret? Curator: That's beautifully put! It underscores the idea of disruption—the way falsehood reveals the hidden truth, upsetting our perceptions. Perhaps, it reflects broader cultural anxieties during that period about appearance and reality. Editor: For sure. What is present is in fact representing the unsaid. What’s unsaid is what it's all really about. Curator: Thank you for revealing fresh interpretations, my friend. I'm taking away so much with me today. Editor: Me too. Seeing how the formal construction reinforces and magnifies the power of the overall myth will not be forgotten.