A Forest at Dawn with a Deer Hunt
In 1635 Rubens acquired a manor known as Het Steen, whose landscape inspired many of the paintings he made for his own pleasure in the final years of his life. In this example, a thickly painted sun peeks through the branches at dawn, as a hunter (in the red coat) and his hounds chase deer in the forest. Hunting was a privilege reserved for aristocrats that aligned with Rubens’s new identity as lord of a manor, at a time in his life when he was able to make personal paintings that reflected his interests.
Artwork Details
- Title: A Forest at Dawn with a Deer Hunt
- Artist: Peter Paul Rubens (Flemish, Siegen 1577–1640 Antwerp)
- Date: ca. 1635
- Medium: Oil on wood
- Dimensions: 24 1/4 x 35 1/2 in. (61.5 x 90.2 cm)
- Classification: Paintings
- Credit Line: Purchase, The Annenberg Foundation, Mrs. Charles Wrightsman, Michel David-Weill, The Dillon Fund, Henry J. and Drue Heinz Foundation, Lola Kramarsky, Annette de la Renta, Mr. and Mrs. Arthur Ochs Sulzberger, The Vincent Astor Foundation, and Peter J. Sharp Gifts; special funds, gifts, and other gifts and bequests, by exchange, 1990
- Object Number: 1990.196
- Curatorial Department: European Paintings
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