New South Wales Wolf c. 1790

This wood engraving titled *New South Wales Wolf* was created by Thomas Bewick in the late 18th or early 19th century. Here, we encounter an animal that, from the earliest times, has embodied the archetype of wilderness and untamed nature. The wolf stands as a potent emblem across cultures, from the revered she-wolf, Lupa, who suckled Romulus and Remus in Roman mythology, to the fearsome predator of European folklore. Yet, Bewick's wolf evokes a certain pathos, standing somewhat isolated against a backdrop of dense foliage. Its gaze, directed beyond the frame, hints at a yearning for its lost habitat. Consider the medieval bestiaries, where the wolf often represented rapacity and danger, a far cry from the animal's role in indigenous Australian cultures, where the dingo, a close relative, held spiritual significance. The image before us is part of a longer cultural trajectory, continuously molded by humanity's shifting relationship with the natural world.