Reinaert buigt voor koning Nobel en de verzamelde dieren 1866 - 1939

This drawing of Reynard bowing to King Nobel was made by Bernard Willem Wierink, but the date is unknown, and it's done in pen and brush. The colours in this piece are muted, mainly grey, black and white, with small accents of orange in Reynard, the fox. The marks are scratchy and sketchy, as if the artist is trying to find the image within the lines, not just represent it. This makes me think about the process of artmaking, where the image appears slowly, through trial and error. Look at the way Wierink renders King Nobel, the lion. It's not about being photorealistic, it's more about the essence of "lion-ness". The thick dark mane surrounding a benevolent face is all we need to understand. I get the feeling that Wierink’s approach to this piece, like so many illustrations, is about the narrative elements in the image. It reminds me a little of Aubrey Beardsley, but with a much more naïve and loose hand. What stories do you see in this image? How do they relate to the Reynard tales, or even, to our own times?