The history of Reynard the Fox 1894

Walter Crane produced this line block print, ‘Reynard the Fox at the Court of the Lion King Nobel,’ sometime around the turn of the 20th century. Crane was a committed socialist, and his artistic vision, although rooted in the Arts and Crafts tradition, was always alive to the political dimensions of imagery. Medieval stories of Reynard the Fox satirized the human condition by presenting a world of anthropomorphic animals whose behaviors mirrored the corruption of the medieval royal court. In this illustration, the Lion King Nobel’s court presents a highly stratified society. Crane’s image is a commentary on Edwardian society in Britain. The artist asks: are the supposedly civilized members of the British empire really any better than beasts? The image’s themes – social inequality, institutional corruption, and the critique of power – are timeless. To better understand this work, one could consult primary sources from Crane’s time or consider later artistic movements that explored similar issues. Art, after all, is never created in a vacuum, and its meaning is always shaped by its socio-political context.