The Shepherd on Horseback Chases the Stag from Hendrick van Alcmar's Renard The Fox
1650–75
Medium
Engraving; fourth state of five
Dimensions
Plate: 3 3/4 × 4 5/8 in. (9.6 × 11.7 cm) Sheet: 4 in. × 4 13/16 in. (10.1 × 12.2 cm)
Classification
Prints
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
The Elisha Whittelsey Collection, The Elisha Whittelsey Fund, 1962
Accession Number
62.650.8(49)
Tags
Art Historical Context
In the lively world of 17th-century Dutch printmaking, Allart van Everdingen'sThe Shepherd on Horsebackases the Stag* a thrilling moment from Hendrick van Alcmar's popular edition of *Renard the Fox* (ca. 1650–75). This engraving illustrates a key scene from the medieval beast epic *Reynard the Fox*, a satirical fable cycle originating in the Low Countries that personified animals to mock human vices. Here, a dynamic shepherd pursues a fleeing stag on horseback, blending elements like sheep with the excitement of the hunt—evident in the tags of horses, deer, hunting, and shepherds. As a small...
About the Artist
Allart van Everdingen · 1621–1675
Allaert van Everdingen (1621-1675) was a Dutch Golden Age painter and printmaker who introduced Scandinavian landscape painting to the Netherlands. Born in Alkmaar and baptized on June 18, 1621, he pioneered a distinctive genre of Nordic mountain scenery that profoundly influenced Dutch landscape painting and later inspired the Romantic movement. Van Everdingen holds a unique place in art history...