Canteclaer komt met gedode hen bij koning Nobel 1866 - 1939

Bernard Willem Wierink made this strange, symbolic drawing with crayon and pencil sometime around the turn of the 20th century. Look at the careful application of color, like a medieval manuscript, but with a modern sensibility. I can imagine him, hunched over this work, layering the colors, pressing hard to get the intensity he wanted. There’s a story being told in the image, but it’s not clear to me what’s going on. It looks like an illustration from a book. And is that old Dutch or Flemish in the middle? I can see a lion with a rather stern face and a bunch of chickens. I am drawn to the somewhat muted, soft colors. Wierink reminds me a little of some other symbolist artists and illustrators, like Aubrey Beardsley, but he's got his own slightly quirky thing going on. Artists are always looking at each other, borrowing ideas, and pushing things in new directions, right? We are all in conversation. And this little drawing whispers and shouts at the same time.