The Lion Hunt

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The Lion Hunt: Peter Paul Rubens

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Art Type: Oil Painting
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Peter Paul Rubens Oil Painting - The Lion Hunt

Keywords: Lion, Hunt

Work Overview: The Lion Hunt
Peter Paul Rubens
Date: 1621
Style: Baroque
Genre: genre painting
Media: oil, canvas
Dimensions: 377 x 249 cm
Location: Alte Pinakothek, Munich, Germany

The Lion Hunt is a 1621 painting by Peter Paul Rubens, now held in the Alte Pinakothek in Munich. It shows two lions attacked by hunters on horseback and on foot. It marks the end of an intensive creative phase for Rubens centred on the theme of hunting. Rubens produced a number of large format hunting scenes after 1615, many with mythological backdrop.

Rubens was commissioned by many of his wealthy connections to depict the wild and exotic creatures they hunted and owned as they conquered lands and colonies in Africa and the East.

Hunting animals was still illegal to most people in the 17th century and was reserved for wealthy royal subjects. Aristocrats such as the Archduke of Brussels had a zoo full of animals and Rubens would often go there to sketch and observe these wild beasts.

As Europe was still discovering these different lands, many people had not seen such creatures and Rubens would entice the viewer's imagination through wild and dramatic scenes.

His depictions were popular amongst wealthy patrons and the general public as he portrayed these animals in all their natural glory against the intellect and tact of man. Such images were also a sign of status as wealthy patrons could show that they had the money and power to hunt and own these animals.

Rubens aimed to evoke emotion with his images and he often painted the human body as tortured, exhausted or contorted as the beasts would ravage it.

Different animals were depicted as well as different ethnic groups as Rubens enjoyed painting people from all over the world for aesthetic purposes and to depict the moment of the hunt as it had actually taken place.

Lion Hunt was commissioned by Maximillian I, Duke of Bavaria. The image is one of hunters on horseback attempting to fight off a lion who threatens the life of the man in his grip. Another man kills a lion and his corpse can be seen lying beneath the horses.

There is no literary source for this violent study, but there are a number of visual precedents, notably by Leonardo da Vinci.

Rubens' depictions of wild and exotic animals were much in demand and to create them he would draw inspiration from stories of his wealthy patron's adventures in far off lands.

David Rosand says: "In this, as in all his work, he drew upon the traditions of classical art, ancient and Renaissance, enriching it with a new vitality derived from his Flemish heritage."

Composition:
In this work there is a slanted, horizontal plane. The lion biting the hunter in the foreground is the focus and the knight coming from the back of the image creates depth as well as a three-dimensional space.

The Arab hunter with the shield has his horse facing the opposite direction which also gives the illusion of depth and Rubens succeeds in establishing correct proportions for each character.

There is a circular viewing process in this work. First we see the falling hunter whose contorted body blends in with his flailing horse. The horse's head adjoins the knight's horse which leads the eye to the knight.

The knight's lifted arm directs us to the hunter boldly painted in red and then the gaze is directed to the hunter on the ground with a lion on top of him. He points his dagger, ready to stab the lion that is about to fall on him. From there the eye is drawn back up to the hunter in white.

The hunter's foot also points out the fallen hunter in blue and the darkened horseman to the right. In turn the darkened horseman hoists a rope which pulls the viewer back into the main scene.

Color palette:
Rubens creates a very dark background so that the central figures are easy to distinguish amidst the chaos.

Bold dashes of his signature red can be seen in the Arab's cloak and darker hues for the cloak worn by the knight. The knight's cloak has various tones of red combined with deep shadows to create movement in the fabric.

For his lions, Rubens uses strong yellows and browns for definition, muscle contortions and stress. Detail and smooth, swift brush strokes are used for the lion's mane to accentuate its sensual and exotic texture. This also shows the looseness and movement of the mane as the lion grapples his attacker and shakes him with strong head movements.

Strong lines of grays and blues are used for the foreign skies under which the event is taking place, with strong dark greens and yellows for the dusty earth.

The viewer cannot fail to notice the tortured hunter in sheer white as his body is ripped from his horse by the lion.

Among many differences from the Schleissheim series, in accordance with Rubens changing attitudes to both life and composition, the combat is equal, or even in the lions' favor in Lion Hunt. The action is spread out and not bounded by the frame, but the front plane is maintained as if by a sheet of glass. The forms are softer, limited by changes of tone rather than by outlines, and linked by a lattice of limbs and weapons.

The painting shows to the full the impetuosity of Rubens' talent. The whirlwind composition is typically Baroque, while the horse charging headlong into the fight was an image perfectly suited to this artist's passionate temperament.

Peter Paul Rubens was very particular about the prints made after his paintings, though he embraced the increased fame that they afforded him. Rubens proudly discussed this painting in a 1621 letter: "I have almost finished a large picture, entirely by my hand, and in my opinion one of my best, representing a Lion Hunt, with the figures life-sized."

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Peter Paul Rubens

Work Overview