A Fool Feeding Flowers to Swine [fol. 42 recto]

The scene presents a proverbial motif: a simpleton squanders beautiful objects by giving them to an unappreciative animal. The juxtaposition of the tender flowers and the indifferent swine underscores the futility of wasteful generosity, a moral lesson common in early sixteenth‑century visual culture.

The artist employed fine brown ink lines to define the figures and terrain, then applied thin, translucent watercolor glazes to build soft, muted tones on the rough texture of laid paper. This glazing method creates a subtle atmospheric effect, allowing the ink drawing to retain its crispness while the color layers suggest depth without obscuring detail.

Created as part of a bound collection of drawings circa 1515, the piece eventually entered the holdings of the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. The gallery acquired it through a donation in the mid‑twentieth century, where it now resides among other works illustrating early Renaissance narrative illustration.