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Original fileFabel van de oude leeuw
About This Work
This engraving depicts the Aesopic fable of the lion who has grown too old and weak to defend himself. Former prey and subjects take their revenge: a bull gores him with horns, a horse strikes him with hind hooves, and a wild boar prepares to bite. In the distance, a serene landscape with travelers and a river provides a sharp contrast to the violent downfall of the former king of beasts.
Engraved while Sadeler was the Imperial Engraver to Rudolf II in Prague, this work belongs to a series that adapted Marcus Gheeraerts’s 1567 fable book. It reflects the Rudolfine court's interest in the intersection of natural philosophy (zoological accuracy) and moralizing emblems, using the animal kingdom to meditate on the Stoic themes of the vanity of power and the cruelty of fortune.
Connected Texts
Aesop
The print is a direct visual translation of Aesop's fable 'The Old Lion,' a core text in the Western moral tradition.
Andrea Alciato
Alciato's Emblemata (e.g., Emblem CLIII) frequently utilized animal fables, including the theme of the fallen powerful, to convey moral and political lessons.
Provenance & Source
Object
Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam
paper
height 96 mm x width 112 mm
emblem
Linked Data
AI AI-cataloged fields generated by gemini-3-flash-preview on April 2, 2026. Getty identifiers are AI-inferred and may require verification.