The Farmer's Wife and the Raven

The Farmer's Wife and the Raven from 1786 by George Stubbs illustrates one of Aesop's fables, giving the artist an opportunity to combine animal painting with literary narrative in a genre he rarely explored. The fable of the raven who mimics the eagle but becomes trapped in the sheep's wool provided a subject involving both bird and mammal, allowing Stubbs to demonstrate his versatility. His animal paintings of this period, the mid-1780s, represent a conscious effort to expand his range beyond equestrian portraiture—he was experimenting with enamel painting on ceramics and taking on unusual subjects that challenged his existing specialization. The inclusion of a human figure—the farmer's wife—required the figure painting skills Stubbs had developed but rarely exercised so prominently. The work is held at the Yale Center for British Art.

The fable illustration combines figure and animal painting with Stubbs's characteristic precision, the narrative elements integrated into a carefully composed landscape setting.