Reynard Disguised as a Monk c. 1645 - 1656

Allart van Everdingen made this etching, "Reynard Disguised as a Monk," and it invites us to consider the artist’s world and the stories that shaped it. Van Everdingen was working in the Dutch Golden Age, a time when the Netherlands was a hub of global trade and cultural exchange, but also a society grappling with religious and political tensions. Here we see the artist using the popular figure of Reynard the Fox to subtly critique the social structures of his time. Reynard, dressed as a monk, is a figure of cunning and deception, preying on the innocent. This image taps into anxieties about religious authority, and the potential for hypocrisy within the clergy, but it also highlights the vulnerability of the common person to those in power. The artist uses accessible folk tales to speak to something deeper about truth, power, and the ways in which appearances can be deceiving.