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'The Hunt in the Forest', c.1470
by Uccello
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Uccello was a painter of perspective,
animals and landscape.
This decorative and lively painting of a hunting
scene is one of the treasures of the Ashmolean Museum’s
collection of Italian Renaissance paintings.
It was probably painted as a wall decoration for
the home of a sophisticated and wealthy patron.
It is a highly original painting both as a nocturnal
landscape and as a brilliantly structured composition.
It is a rare and unusual survivor of a domestic
painting depicting a secular, contemporary subject.
It is a scene of motion and noise. Hounds leap,
horses rear back, men gesture and appear to call
out in a darkening forest. There are crescent moons
on the horses’ trappings; these may symbolise
Diana, the classical goddess of the hunt. These
hidden meanings and the unreality of the scene contribute
to the mystery and charm of the painting. The hunt
at night is an imaginary scene, full of energy and
activity.
Uccello was an early practitioner of mathematical
perspective, he mapped out a grid on the panel’s
surface as a guide for his design, fixing a central
vanishing point. The devices of the huntsman’s
spears, the cut branches and logs, the area of water
and the decreasing size of the figures and trees,
create a sense of depth and motion in the scene.
Uccello’s approach is highly decorative with
bright clear colours set off against a dark background,
the foliage of the trees was once picked out with
gold. which produces a magical quality to the painting.
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© Ashmolean Museum, Oxford.
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