The Lion Hunt
1621/29
Medium
Engraving in black on cream laid paper, tipped onto cream laid paper
Dimensions
Image: 40.9 × 58.6 cm (16 1/8 × 23 1/8 in.); Primary support, trimmed within platemark: 42.5 × 59 cm (16 3/4 × 23 1/4 in.); Secondary support: 49.6 × 68 cm (19 9/16 × 26 13/16 in.)
Classification
engraving
Department
Prints and Drawings
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
202431
Rights
Public Domain
About this artwork
Peter Paul Rubens was very particular about the prints made after his paintings, though he embraced the increased fame that they afforded him. Schelte Bolswert’s engraving of The Lion Hunt ably captures the roiling energy of Rubens’s painting. The older artist proudly discussed this painting in a 1621 letter: “I have almost finished a large picture, entirely by my hand, and in my opinion one of my best, representing a Lion Hunt, with the figures life-sized.” Given the printing process’s usual re...