The Stag Hunt
ca. 1655 - 1656
Medium
oil on copper
Dimensions
4.5; 28.9; 34.5
About this artwork
buitenmaat: diepte 4,5 cm (drager incl. SK-L-3914)
Art Historical Context
Philips Wouwerman’s *The Stag Hunt* captures the excitement of a 17th-century noble pursuit with remarkable liveliness. Painted around 1655–1656 in the Dutch Republic, the small oil on copper depicts riders and hounds in full chase across a wooded landscape. Wouwerman, a leading figure of the Dutch Golden Age, specialized in such dynamic hunting and battle scenes, often filling compact compositions with dozens of figures and animals in motion. The choice of copper as a support was particularly suited to Wouwerman’s meticulous technique. Its smooth, non-absorbent surface allowed him to render ...
About the Artist
Philips Wouwerman
Specialized in military and hunting scenes in which horses are prominent. Son of a little known painter in Alkmaar, Paul Joosten Wouwerman. Philips died at the age of 48 reportedly as the result of an accident, having created a large number of landscapes, battle scenes and the elegant life of his time, set in castles, parties, hunting, huntsmen and prized horses.