Puzzling Pictures: 'A Lion Hunt', about 1616-17

Peter Paul Rubens, 1577-1640

NG853.1

This painting has surprisingly little colour. It is not a finished picture, but a painted sketch on wood made by the artist to help work out a larger composition. The wood has been coated with 'gesso' which is used to provide a smooth surface for painting. It was then primed with bold horizontal brushstrokes, except on the right where the brushstrokes are vertical. This kind of priming would be covered up in a work intended to be finished. On top of this Rubens dashed down a drawing of the lion hunt in black, grey and brown with some red and then added white paint for the more highly lit areas - which include a dash of white for the teeth of the black warrior at the back left. Some parts of the painting are very lightly indicated - notably the horseman galloping away on the right.

Rubens's dynamic compositions often tended to need more room than he originally planned. On this panel, however, the theme of the warrior attacked by a lion is treated again at the top right. Is it a replay, or a rehearsal for the larger group?

Back to Puzzling Pictures

Find out more about this painting