Koning Nobel beveelt om Reinaert de vos te zoeken - Allaert van Everdingen

An etching by Allaert van Everdingen depicting King Nobel the lion commanding his court to find Reynard the Fox.

This etching by Allaert van Everdingen depicts a scene from the medieval beast epic, Reynard the Fox. The composition centres on King Nobel, the lion, who presides over a gathering of animals in a forest setting. The narrative focus is the royal command to locate the cunning fox, Reynard. Van Everdingen, a Dutch artist known for his mastery of etching and his interest in Scandinavian scenery, employs a precise, linear technique to define the various creatures. The animals are rendered with individual character, from the attentive bear to the smaller woodland creatures gathered in the foreground.

The etching demonstrates the artist's ability to balance narrative clarity with naturalistic detail. The trees and foliage provide a frame for the assembly, while the distant, faint outline of a castle suggests the broader world of the fable. Van Everdingen uses cross-hatching and varied line weights to create texture in the fur of the animals and the bark of the trees. This work belongs to a series of illustrations that brought the popular Reynard cycle to a wider audience during the seventeenth century. The print reflects the period's interest in moralising tales and the anthropomorphic depiction of animals. By capturing this specific moment of royal decree, the artist invites the viewer to consider the hierarchy and tension within the animal court. The work is a fine example of Dutch printmaking, where technical skill meets the tradition of satirical storytelling. It remains a clear representation of the artist's graphic style, which often combined observation of nature with imaginative, literary subjects.