Peter Paul Rubens, 'A Lion Hunt', about 1614-15
About the work
Overview
A group of men out on a lion hunt are now being hunted themselves. In this brown monochrome sketch, Rubens – famously an accomplished painter of horses – has masterfully captured the movement of the rearing horses and thrusting spears, and the terrified faces of the men as they struggle to fend off the attacking lion.
The lion appears doubly enraged and desperate following the killing of his lioness, whose dead body lies speared on the right. The hunters, too, have lost one of their party: a dead man lies stretched out under the grey horse. Rubens has presented a moment of both balance and anticipation of change: who will win, man or beast? The surviving lion is outnumbered, and a faintly rendered figure hints at the eventual outcome. This man advances, his eyes trained on the lion’s head, his arm – and possibly a weapon – held aloft.
Key facts
Details
- Full title
- A Lion Hunt
- Artist
- Peter Paul Rubens
- Artist dates
- 1577 - 1640
- Date made
- about 1614-15
- Medium and support
- oil on wood
- Dimensions
- 73.6 × 105.4 cm
- Acquisition credit
- Bought, 1871
- Inventory number
- NG853.1
- Location
- Room 18
- Collection
- Main Collection
- Previous owners
- Frame
- 17th-century Flemish Frame
Provenance
Additional information
Text extracted from the ‘Provenance’ section of the catalogue entry in Gregory Martin, ‘National Gallery Catalogues: The Flemish School: circa 1600–circa 1900’, London 1986; for further information, see the full catalogue entry.
Exhibition history
-
2017Rubens and RembrandtThe National Gallery (London)22 March 2017 - 6 August 2017
-
2018Rubens. Painter of SketchesMuseo Nacional del Prado9 April 2018 - 5 August 2018Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen8 September 2018 - 13 January 2019
Bibliography
-
1986Martin, Gregory, National Gallery Catalogues: The Flemish School, circa 1600 - circa 1900, London 1986
-
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.