Fable III, plate three from Lehrreiche Fabeln aus dem Reiche der Theire 1743

Editor: This is “Fable III, plate three from Lehrreiche Fabeln aus dem Reiche der Theire” by Johann Elias Ridinger, made in 1743. It's an etching, so a print on paper, and it depicts animals in a forest setting. It's quite intricate, and something about it feels a bit ominous to me. What do you see in this piece? Curator: Ominous, you say? Yes, I get that. Think about fables – they're not always sunshine and rainbows. This piece, being from a series of "instructive fables," likely carries a moral weight. Ridinger, bless his baroque heart, wasn't just doodling cute critters. He was speaking to human foibles through animal allegories. Notice how crammed the animals are, struggling in what I'd describe as an emotional turmoil. Does anything jump out about the relationship of these different animal characters? Editor: The owl looks… wise, maybe? Perched above the fray, while the other animals, like the wolf and… are those cats? Are fighting below? It looks as if he might have a bird in his claws too. Curator: Precisely! The owl observes, perhaps judges, or even manipulates the conflict. The scene suggests treachery, maybe veiled threats within the animal kingdom – or, metaphorically, within society. The style reminds me how power dynamics and moral lessons were communicated at the time. Remember, the Baroque loved drama and complexity. So, the crowded composition mirrors the tangled relationships and obscured intentions that Ridinger wanted to explore. What do you make of the text below? Editor: Oh! "A pretended friend is more harmful than an open enemy." Wow. That changes everything. The owl... he's the false friend? Curator: Precisely! Now we see Ridinger has cast the owl. What begins as unsettling turns into treachery cast with absolute definition! The work feels incredibly dynamic, emotionally more charged now. The image has really evolved with language, for me at least. Editor: This piece felt heavy before, but now understanding the moral makes it more profound and complex. It makes the history really jump out!