Details

Object type

painting

Title

The Stag Hunt

Artist/Maker

Lucas Cranach artist

Culture/School

German

Date

1529

Materials

oil on panel

Dimensions

framed: 1045 mm x 1441 mm x 150 mm; unframed: 960 mm x 1195 mm

Description

In this large hunt scene, we are treated to a birds eye view of the chase. The stags have been driven by men on horseback, as well as dogs, to the river. The scene is watched by noblemen and women who can be seen nearby in a boat. As the stags attempt to swim across the water, they are shot by marksmen, hiding in the bushes. Among these men are probably the Elector Frederick the Wise of Saxony, Emperor Maximilian I, and the Elector John the Constant of Saxony. As court artist to Frederick the Wise, Lucas Cranach was familiar with the fashionable pursuit of hunting, and sometimes accompanied Frederick on his hunts. Cranach depicted the subject several times, in drawing, print and in painting.

It is thought that this painting could have been commissioned by John the Constant, as a souvenir of a hunt involving the three men, because it was painted after the death of Emperor Maximilian I and Frederick the Wise.

Credit Line/Donor

Gifted by Sir William and Lady Burrell to the City of Glasgow, 1944

Collection

Burrell Collection: Pictures [Oils, Pastels and Watercolours]

ID Number

35.73

Location

Burrell Collection East Galleries