Jan Baptist Weenix, 'A Huntsman cutting up a Dead Deer, with Two Deerhounds', 1647-60
About the work
Overview
In a forest, in fading light at the end of the day, a huntsman guts a stag. He looks efficient and seemingly quick – this is an everyday procedure for him. His gun lies beside him and his two hounds stand alert, ready to rejoin the hunt shown in the distance through the gap in the trees.
In the seventeenth-century Netherlands, hunting was a privilege not available to many. The picture would have been painted for an aristocratic collector for whom it was both a sport and a status symbol.
Jan Baptist Weenix was born in Amsterdam. He went to study in Rome for a few years in his youth, returning to the Netherlands to paint Italianate scenes of the mountainous Italian landscape lit by soft, mellow light.
Key facts
Details
- Full title
- A Huntsman cutting up a Dead Deer, with Two Deerhounds
- Artist
- Jan Baptist Weenix
- Artist dates
- 1621 - before 1663
- Date made
- 1647-60
- Medium and support
- oil on canvas
- Dimensions
- 196 × 265 cm
- Inscription summary
- Signed
- Acquisition credit
- Presented by Henry Reene to the British Museum, 1756; transferred, 1880
- Inventory number
- NG1096
- Location
- Not on display
- Collection
- Main Collection
Provenance
Additional information
Text extracted from the ‘Provenance’ section of the catalogue entry in Neil MacLaren, revised and expanded by Christopher Brown, ‘National Gallery Catalogues: The Dutch School: 1600–1900’, London 1991; for further information, see the full catalogue entry.
Bibliography
-
1960Maclaren, Neil, National Gallery Catalogues: The Dutch School, 2 vols, London 1960
-
1991Maclaren, Neil, revised by Christopher Brown, National Gallery Catalogues: The Dutch School, 1600-1900, 2nd edn (revised and expanded), 2 vols, London 1991
-
2001
C. Baker and T. Henry, The National Gallery: Complete Illustrated Catalogue, London 2001
About this record
If you know more about this painting or have spotted an error, please contact us. Please note that exhibition histories are listed from 2009 onwards. Bibliographies may not be complete; more comprehensive information is available in the National Gallery Library.