A Goose and a Gander with their Goslings Honking in Alarm as Two Foxes with their Cubs Emerge from the Rushes 1765 - 1829

Johann Tischbein created this watercolor artwork portraying geese protecting their young from foxes. It is a scene teeming with symbols of protection and predation, and family. The honking geese, wings spread wide, embody vigilance and parental defense, a motif echoing across cultures from ancient Egyptian protective deities to the fierce mother figures of folklore. The foxes, lurking in the rushes, represent cunning and danger, a universal symbol found in Aesop's fables and Reynard the Fox stories. Think of the Roman Volpe festival, and how the symbolism of the fox has shifted in different cultures, sometimes seen as wise, other times as deceitful. The emotional tension is palpable; it evokes a primal fear for the safety of offspring. It is a dynamic interplay of instinct and survival. These archetypes resurface through centuries, a testament to their enduring power in our collective consciousness.