Headpiece (page 21) from The Fables of Aesop
Thomas Bewick
British, 1753–1828
1818
A small wood-engraved headpiece by Thomas Bewick illustrating “The Leopard and the Fox,” designed to introduce the fable and enrich its moral with closely observed, narrative detail.
An oval vignette above the title shows a spotted leopard standing over a diminutive fox in a densely hatched woodland; the minute cross‑hatching and careful tonal gradations make the tiny scene read like a finely detailed miniature landscape on the page.
Bewick’s economical yet highly detailed wood engravings helped transform early 19th‑century book illustration, bringing naturalistic observation and narrative clarity to mass‑printed texts and setting a standard for modern wood‑engraved illustration.
Medium
Wood engraving from an illustrated book with 323 wood engravings and one etching and engraving
Dimensions
composition: 2 1/4 × 3 1/8" (5.7 × 8 cm); page (irreg.): 8 1/4 × 5 5/16" (21 × 13.5 cm)
Classification
Department
Credit
The Louis E. Stern Collection
Accession
680.1964.23
Palette
Art Terms
Exhibitions
