A stork impales a frog in a peaceful scene by a river; allegory of freedom. Etching by C. Murer after himself, c. 1600-1614.

Vignau-Wilberg (ibid, p. 95) tells us that the image is inspired by Aesop's fable of the frogs and their king. In the distance, frogs jump from an upturned tree into the river. A crowned man stands with a bird in the clouds. To the left, a man sits on an ass drinking from the river

This is one of Murer's series to use Aesop's fables as illustrations to a moral point in his play

Zurich : Johann Rudolf Wolf, 1622.

1 print : etching.

Libertas

For detailed information on Murer's series, see: Thea Vignau-Wilberg, 'Christoph Murer und die "XL. Emblemata miscella nova"' (Bern : Benteli Verlag, 1982)

Wellcome Collection 26695i

This series was originally intended by Murer to serve as illustration to his play 'Edessa', but he died before completing it. The play concerned the politics surrounding the Arian controversy in the fourth century Christian church. In her book (cited below), T. Vignau-Wilberg demonstrates that Murer used the story of the persecutions in Edessa of non-Arians by Arians as a cipher for the persecution of Protestants by Catholics in his contemporary Europe. However, the play was never published and the etchings were published as emblems eight years after his death, with a different text written by Johann Heinrich Rordorf, sometimes at variance with the intention of the original