The Donkey Laden with Food, from Emblematic Figures of Animals

Prints and Drawings

1633

Adrian van de Venne (Dutch, 1589-1662)
after Marcus Gheeraerts the Elder (Flemish, c. 1520-1590)

Prints of animals could be accurate and fanciful simultaneously. This finely engraved yet slightly caricatured scene from Aesop’s Fables depicts a donkey laden with fine food and wine who nonetheless happily gnaws at a prickly thistle instead. Moral interpretations of the text have ranged from “One man’s meat is another man’s poison” to a critique of stinginess. Though unsigned, this humorous image of feast and famine set off a chain of copies, ironically ending with a dozen Aesop roundels that decorated the back of trenchers, wooden plates used for the final fruit and nut course in England.

Status: Currently Off View
Department: Prints and Drawings

Artist: Adriaen Pietersz. van de Venne
Title: The Donkey Laden with Food, from Emblematic Figures of Animals
Origin: Flanders
Date: 1628–1638
Medium: Engraving on ivory laid paper
Dimensions: 273 × 205 mm (plate); 274 × 207 mm (sheet)
Credit Line: William McCallin McKee Memorial Endowment
Reference Number: 1944.583
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