Jacob Jordaens (Antwerp 1593-1678)

This moral tale from Aesop's Fables was one of Jordaens's favourite compositions. D'Hulst lists seven paintings of the subject by the artist and his studio (R.-A. d'Hulst, Jacob Jordaens, London, 1982, p. 367) and seven other drawings (R.-A. d'Hulst, Jordaens Drawings, London, 1974, III, p. 647). The drawing which is closest to the present sheet in compositional terms is that in the Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts, Paris (D'Hulst, op. cit., 1974, no. A51, fig. 58), which is datable to 1620-21.