This image illustrates one of La Fontaine’s most famous moral fables, which critiques hypocrisy and the abuse of power. In the story, animals struck by a plague seek a culprit to blame. The powerful predators are absolved, while the innocent donkey is sacrificed.

Dalí interprets this theme through surreal distortion of animal anatomy, emphasizing moral imbalance; radiating lines and halos, suggesting divine judgment or false authority.  A barren, dreamlike landscape, reinforcing existential anxiety; dynamic, skeletal forms, reflecting guilt, decay, and injustice. 

Dalí’s La Fontaine series is considered one of his most successful literary illustration projects, combining: classical French literature, Dalí’s mature surrealist language, fine-art printmaking techniques of exceptional quality. These works are widely held in museum collections.