HUNTS OF FEROCIOUS ANIMALS,

LIONS, WILD BOARS, WOLVES, ETC.

RUBENS and SNYDERS are the only Flemish painters particularly distinguished for representations of these hazardous encounters. They both painted ferocious animals with so much spirit and truth, that the work of the one is frequently attributed to the other; and they so often conjoined their talents in depicting these bold subjects, that there is considerable difficulty in apportioning to each his due share in the composition. In the lion-hunts it is generally supposed that the greater portion belongs to Rubens, the design entirely. Snyders assisted in forwarding the colouring of the animals, that is to say, the lions and dogs, but the horses and their riders were undoubtedly the work of Rubens. The same may be said of the wolf-hunts; but in those of the wild boar, Snyders seems entitled to the larger share. An exception, however, may be made, in favour of Rubens, to several of this subject, as connected with the story of Atalanta, Meleager, and the Calydonian boar, in which both the animals and figures appear to be by him. Attacks on the crocodile and the hippopotamus may be apportioned to each.

The celebrated Wolf-hunt, formerly in the Altamira Collection, and now in that of Lord Ashburton, (which is perhaps the finest picture in England of that class by Flemish artists,) has divided the opinion of connoisseurs respecting the title of Rubens to the whole; but it is doing no injustice to his reputation to claim some share for Snyders in the wolves, the foxes, and the dogs. That this was a favourite picture with Rubens there is no doubt, as the two principal

figures are portraits of himself and his first wife, Elizabeth Brandt, and it was painted for his friend General Leganes, who served in Flanders under the Marquis Spinola; to him, therefore, must be conceded the honour of the composition, the execution of the figures and horses, and additional touches to the inferior animals to bring the whole into harmony.

The opinion that Snyders painted the dogs, wolves, and foxes, in this picture is strengthened, not only by the acknowledgment that he painted similar animals in other large hunting pieces of which the compositions are by Rubens, but in the Altamira Collection, from which this was obtained, there were several boar and fox-hunts with the name of Snyders, wherein the dogs and foxes were in every respect the same as in this; there was also the picture of an enraged lion that might have passed for the work of Rubens, had it not borne the name of Snyders.

The highest praise must be awarded to both these distinguished masters in hunting-subjects of this heroic character, to each in his department; to Rubens, for the invention and arrangement of the composition; to Snyders, for the ability displayed in embodying the conceptions of the inventor with such truth of nature and delusion of art, and similitude of execution, that it would seem one spirit actuated in both. The landscapes of all may be ascribed to Wildens, Artois, Vanuden, or Momper, always admitting that Rubens went over them in part at his pleasure.

Two grand lion hunts, one in the Gallery at Munich, and the other in that at Dresden, are attributed entirely to Rubens, so far as regards the composition, the animals, and the figures. The picture at Munich exhibits a party of seven huntsmen, four of whom are on horseback, attacked by an enraged lion, which has fastened on one of the horsemen and is tearing him to the ground, the rest of the party are endeavouring to relieve their companion by assailing the lion with lances and swords, and the horses are rearing, plunging, and lashing out in all directions; one of the hunters, lying on the ground, is defending himself from a young lion which has sprung on him, and another hunter is advancing to the fallen man's assistance; opposite to them is one hors de combat. It is a most energetic performance, and in painting it Rubens seems to have been inspired by a re

collection of Lionardo da Vinci's Battle of the Standard, of which he had previously made a hasty transcript. The picture at Dresden varies in the composition; the hunters are fewer and the animals more numerous. One of the hunters wears an Oriental dress, and rides a superb mottled gray horse; a lion has sprung on his steed and seized the rider by the shoulder: another hunter is dismounted and in the power of a lion, and an African in a scarlet cloak, on a plunging horse, is attacking the animal with a hunting spear. On one side is a lionness with a cub in her mouth, and a dead tiger lying near.

These pictures are so equal in merit that it would be invidious to award the palm for superiority to either. A sketch of the latter, done en grisaille by Rubens, is in the collection of Sir Robert Peel; one picture was engraved by Bolswert, the other by Suyderhoef, during the life of Rubens: this establishes his claim.

The pictures of the class under consideration, and of which Snyders painted all the animals, are chiefly wild boar hunts. In some, the sportsmen and dogs are in full chase of the animal, who is endeavouring to take shelter in a wood; or they are attacking him in his lair, and he is defending himself with courage and obstinacy; or they are encountering him on all sides, and he is furiously avenging himself on his assailants the dogs, some of which are ripped by his tusks, and lie struggling in death, while others are harassing him by seizing his legs and ears; the huntsmen armed with lances, swords, and other weapons, are hastening to terminate the contest, but one of them is sometimes represented as paying the penalty of his temerity, and lying disabled on the ground. In these pictures Snyders generally had the assistance of Wildens in the landscape part, and that of Paul de Vos, or Jordaens, in the figures. His bear hunts are of a similar description, and equally interesting. See Animals and Dead Game, &c.

There were but few Flemish or Dutch artists that succeeded in this heroic style of painting; many were eminent in representing the less dangerous sport of stag hunting, and have already been noticed. The following are perhaps the best entitled to be named after Rubens and Snyders, not as analogous painters, except as regards Paul de Vos, but as

artists who exhibit great talent in depicting the wilder sort of animals, without exhibiting the powerful genius of the two great masters in putting them into action.

BEELDEMAKER, JAN. The pictures by this master, best known in England, are of the cabinet size, but in some of the galleries and collections in foreign countries they are found of large dimensions. His wild boar hunts are spirited and rich in colour, and the animals well drawn; his stag and fox hunts are also held in estimation. See Field Sports.

FYT, JAN, born at Antwerp in 1625, painted all kinds of animals, alive or dead, with great natural beauty, but particularly excelled in the forms and characters of the dog species. His hunting subjects, on a large scale, are generally found in the landscapes of other eminent masters, and add much to their value. It is said that Rubens employed him in this manner, but this may be doubted, as Fyt was only fifteen years of age when Rubens died. See Painters of Animals and Dead Game.

HONDIUS, ABRAHAM, born at Rotterdam in 1638, painted animals in a very vigorous style, particularly dogs of the chase. His bear and boar hunts are of a robust character, the animals are rugged and truly savage, and his hunters little less so; but they are true to nature, and the scene is very exciting. Some of his dogs much resemble those painted by Velasquez. He resided a considerable time in London, and died there in 1695.

JACOBSZ, JURIAEN, or JURIAEN, JACOBSZ, (it is uncertain which,) was born at Hamburg in 1610, but went early to Antwerp, and entered the school of Snyders. He became an excellent imitator of his master in subjects of the chase and in combats of ferocious animals; and there is so much similarity in the style of his painting, that one not fully acquainted with the handling of Snyders may be deceived by the resemblance. His name is rarely mentioned in accounts of English collections, but his pictures are frequently seen in houses of distinction. He died in 1664. See Field Sports.

Vos, PAUL DE, was born in 1600; it is more than probable that he was a pupil of Francis Snyders, as he not only painted huntings of the wild boar, stags, and other game, entirely in his manner, and also interiors of larders with

dead animals and vegetables; but was usually employed by Snyders in painting the figures in his hunting pieces. His own pictures are of large dimensions, and, until a late period, were seldom seen out of Flanders, except in Spain and Germany. Revolutions and wars have changed the locality of some, and they have been received with honour, having the name of Snyders for their passport, and their own merits to give plausibility to the appellation. The landscape part is generally by Wildens. He died in 1654.

Vos, SIMON DE, was a scholar of Rubens, and excelled in portraits and history; but there are hunting subjects of the grand order, bearing his name, that would do credit to masters eminent only in that department of painting. He was born at Antwerp in 1603, and was living in 1662. See Historical and Portrait Painters.

There are many large pictures of stag, bear, and boar hunts, which dealers are pleased to attribute to Snyders, and sometimes modestly to one of his best scholars, that are so inferior in composition and execution to the works of his pupils or assistants, that it is not deemed necessary to rescue the names of the actual painters from oblivion; and they are merely hinted at to put the inexperienced on their guard against fraudful imposition. The imitators, whose pictures have merit, are noticed among the painters of Field Sports.