Fabel van de vrouw en de kip

A woman in rustic dress sits before a timbered building, holding a hen on her lap and preparing to slit it open with a knife. A pig looks on from a pen in the background, while a small bowl on the ground awaits the bird's contents. The image captures the moment greed overcomes the owner, leading her to destroy the source of her wealth.

This print illustrates a classic Aesopic moral lesson on the dangers of avarice, a central theme in Renaissance emblem books. Produced while Sadeler was the imperial engraver for Rudolf II in Prague, it reflects the court's interest in 'Theatrum Morum' (The Theater of Morals), where animal fables served as allegories for human nature and natural philosophy.