Hunting Imagery in the Early Modern Period

Contexts of Creation, Subject Matter, and the Legacy of Classical Traditions

Abstract

The article is dedicated to the identification and analysis of hunting scenes in Western European prints of the Early Modern period. It aims to examine how hunting themes were depicted in the graphic arts of the time, their types and forms, narrative content, and the reception of the ancient goddess Diana within the artistic context of hunting history. The study also includes a reconstruction of the history of the previously unpublished engraving Sacrifice to Diana from the collection of the National Museum of the History of Ukraine.

Methods. In this research, alongside general scientific methods, iconography and the methods of social art history were employed to interpret visual sources.

Results. In the 16th to 18th centuries, printmaking was a relatively young art form that had only recently emerged from the realm of craft and was rapidly developing due to the growing volume of printed materials. The author analyses hunting-themed engravings, their genre characteristics, and how they reflect changes in hunting practices, all within the context of Early Modern print culture. The image of Diana, the goddess of the hunt, inspired many artists to use her figure to convey values and ideals relevant to their time. The engraving Xenophon’s Sacrifice to Diana by Pietro Aquila, based on a painting by Pietro da Cortona (Berrettini), is examined and introduced into scholarly discourse. This work serves as an example of how an artistic subject could become a model for imitation and reinterpretation through the lens of the copyist. While the original artwork was commissioned out of the patron’s admiration for the figure of Diana, the engraving draws parallels between contemporary events and episodes from ancient Greek history.

Conclusions. The article attempts to analyse the depiction of hunting in Early Modern printmaking, a task complicated by the relative scarcity of studies on specific graphic genres as an independent art form. The findings may be useful for thematic art history courses, particularly those focused on the reception of antiquity in the Early Modern period.