Fabel van de ekster met de pauwenveren

A group of peacocks are shown pecking at a smaller bird on the ground, stripping away the iridescent feathers it had used to decorate itself. In the background, a large fortress stands on a hill, while the central peacock displays its full, fanned plumage to contrast with the exposed imposter. The scene captures a moment of violent exposure of false pretension in a detailed naturalistic landscape.

Engraved by Aegidius Sadeler at the court of Rudolf II in Prague, this print illustrates Aesop's fable of the 'Vain Jackdaw.' While primarily a moral allegory about vanity, the peacock's tail (cauda pavonis) is also a significant alchemical symbol representing the stage of multi-colored transformation in the Great Work, an idea pervasive in the Rudolfine intellectual circle.