Artwork
Fox and cat
Fox and cat is an oil painting by the Flemish Baroque painting artist Frans Snyders. It dates from 1601 and is held in the collection of the Museo del Prado.
About this work
Subject & Meaning
The work belongs to the animal art genre and was created for Ferdinand VII of Spain, linking the subject to royal patronage and moralizing themes of nature.
The painting shows a fox and a cat engaged in a struggle that symbolizes cunning versus domesticity in Baroque animal allegory. The work belongs to the animal art genre and was created for Ferdinand VII of Spain, linking the subject to royal patronage and moralizing themes of nature. Its depiction of a fox and monkey draws on contemporary emblematic traditions that used such pairings to comment on human vices and virtues.
Technique & Style
Fox and cat is an oil painting executed on canvas. The work measures 181 cm in height by 103 cm in width. It belongs to the genre of animal art, depicting a fox and a monkey.
The painting is held in the collection of the Museo del Prado, located at the Royal Palace of Madrid, and was formerly owned by Ferdinand VII of Spain.
History & Provenance
The painting is dated to 1601 based on internal records, which place its creation early in Frans Snyders’s career.
By the early nineteenth century it entered the Spanish royal collection, as it is recorded in the holdings of Ferdinand VII of Spain. The work later passed into the Museo del Prado in Madrid, where it remains in the permanent collection. The 1636 date cited in some sources reflects a later phase of Snyders’s activity and does not alter the painting’s documented creation date.
The painting Fox and Cat by Frans Snyders is held in the collection of the Museo del Prado in Madrid. Historically, the work was owned by Ferdinand VII of Spain. While the artwork's creation is dated to 1601, some records also associate the year 1636 with its inception.
The piece is executed in oil on canvas and measures 181 cm in height by 103 cm in width. Although classified under animal art, the depicted subjects include a fox and a monkey. No specific inventory number or exhibition history for this work is provided in the available sources.
Legacy
The painting Fox and cat by Frans Snyders, created in 1601, influenced later animal painters through its dynamic composition and vivid portrayal of wildlife, with its depiction of a fox and monkey contributing to the development of the animal painting genre. The work was part of the Spanish royal collection, owned by Ferdinand VII of Spain, and is now housed in the Museo del Prado in Madrid.
Overview
Fox and Cat is a 1601 oil painting attributed to the Flemish artist Frans Snyders, featuring a dynamic scene of two animals in a natural environment.
Context
The painting reflects Snyders' known expertise in animal and landscape depictions, characteristic of Flemish art during its period.
Artist & collection
Artist
Frans Snyders or Frans Snijders was a Flemish painter of animals, hunting scenes, market scenes, and still lifes.
Still life of fruit in a basket together with game, a bowl of fraises-de-bois, artichokes, asparagus and a squirrel upon a table draped with a red cloth
Still Life with Grapes and Game
Still Life with Flowers, Grapes, and Small Game Birds
The Fruit Shop
Fish Market
Still Life with Dead Game, Fruits, and Vegetables in a Market
Larder Still life
Still Life with Huntsman
