Renard Promises the Bear to Take Him to a Place Where He Will Find Honey from Hendrick van Alcmar's Renard The Fox

Art Historical Context

In this intricate engraving, Allart van Everding captures a sly moment from Hendrick van Alcmar's popular 17th-century seriesRenard the Fox*. Titled *Renard Promises the Bear Take Him to a Place He Will Find Honey*, the scene (dated 1650–75) shows the cunning fox Renard enticing the gullible bear with visions of sweetness—foreshadowing the bear's stinging betrayal by bees in the classic fable. Everdingen, a Dutch artist renowned for his rugged Nordic landscapes, demonstrates his skill in miniature storytelling through fine lines and expressive animal figures, sized at just 3 11/16 × 4 3/16 inches. *Renard the Fox* draws from medieval European beast epics, a satirical tradition originating in the Low Countries that anthropomorphized animals to mock human vices like greed and folly. Van Alcmar's woodcut series, faithfully rendered by Everdingen, made these moral tales accessible to 17th-century audiences via affordable prints, blending humor with social commentary during the Dutch Golden Age. As a third state of four in the engraving process, this impression reveals refined details from earlier proofs, showcasing the meticulous burin work that defined printmaking. Housed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Drawings and Prints department (Elisha Whittelsey Collection, 1962), it invites us to ponder timeless trickery through art's enduring bite.

About the Artist

Allart van Everdingen · 1621–1675

Allaert van Everdingen (1621-1675) was a Dutch Golden Age painter and printmaker who introduced Scandinavian landscape painting to the Netherlands. Born in Alkmaar and baptized on June 18, 1621, he pioneered a distinctive genre of Nordic mountain scenery that profoundly influenced Dutch landscape painting and later inspired the Romantic movement. Van Everdingen holds a unique place in art history...