Voorstelling van een verhaal uit de Aesopus fabelen

About this artwork

collector's mark: Lugt 240

Art Historical Context

This delicate work on paper by Hendrik Numan captures a scene from one of Aesop’s timeless fables, rendered in a compact format measuring just 102 by 83 millimeters. Created sometime between 1746 and1788, the drawing the enduring 18th-century fascination with moral storytelling through visual art. Aesop’s fables, rooted in ancient Greek tradition, served as vehicles for teaching ethical lessons, and artists of Numan’s era frequently adapted them into prints and drawings for wider dissemination among educated audiences. The small scale suggests an intimate study or preparatory design, possibly intended for book illustration or a collector’s album. Its presence on paper highlights the medium’s role in allowing fluid experimentation with narrative composition. A collector’s mark (Lugt 240) further attests to the piece’s journey through discerning hands, underscoring its value within the history of print and drawing connoisseurship. Numan’s treatment invites viewers to recall the fable’s moral while appreciating the artist’s economical yet expressive line work, characteristic of Dutch graphic traditions of the period.

About the Artist

Hendrik Numan · 1723–1793

Hendrik Numan (1736–1788) was an 18th-century Dutch woodcut artist considered one of the best woodcutters of his generation, known for creating catchpenny prints that entertained and educated the poorer parts of Dutch society. Born in Amsterdam in October 1736, Numan specialized in the often-overlooked medium of woodcut at a time when copper engraving dominated fine printmaking. His father, Lauren...