Fabel van de egel en de slang

This engraving illustrates a fable where a snake offers shelter to a hedgehog, only to be driven out of its own home by the guest's sharp spines. In the foreground, the two animals are rendered with fine detail against a jagged rock face, while the background reveals a pastoral scene with a horse-drawn carriage and sheep on a distant hill. The composition uses high-contrast line work to emphasize the textures of the animals and the ruggedness of the terrain.

Engraved by Aegidius Sadeler while serving as court artist to Emperor Rudolf II in Prague, this work represents the Mannerist interest in moralized natural history. It belongs to the tradition of 'Theatrum morum' (Theater of Morals), using animal behavior as an allegorical mirror for human ethics and social interactions within the humanist circles of the Holy Roman Empire.