Bruin bij Reinaert voor zijn hol 1866 - 1939

This illustrated page, ‘Bruin bij Reinaert voor zijn hol’, was made by Bernard Wierink, probably in the Netherlands, though it's undated. It depicts scenes from the medieval cycle of stories about Reynard the Fox. Looking at it as a social historian, I ask myself, what kind of cultural work is being done here? How does this depiction of animals in human situations serve the artist's society? The fox is a trickster, and here, the artist uses a medieval story to make comments about the artist's contemporary social world. I’d want to research the social role of animal stories, the history of Dutch illustration, the publishing industry, and the revival of interest in medieval stories in the 19th and early 20th centuries. The meaning of this artwork is not just in its style but in its participation in a wider cultural conversation.