Venationes ferarum, avium, piscium (Hunts of wild animals, birds and fish). Plate 13. Animals from Ethiopia and an elephant hunt.

This print is the work of three major Flemish figures of the late 16th century: the original artist Jan Van der Straet (a.k.a. Stradanus), the engraver Jan Collaert II; and the publisher Philips Galle. The success of Van der Straet's cartoons for a hunting series to decorate the Medici villa at Poggio a Caiano, near Florence (1566-77), led to the leading Flemish publishers Heronymus Cock, and subsequently Galle, to commission related engravings in the 1570s and 1580s. (Galle also engraved/published other works by Van der Straet, including his Crucifixion, in Te Papa's collection).

These proved so popular that in 1596 Galle published the ambitious, 105 plate volume Venationes, ferarum, arium, piscium (Hunts of wild animals, birds and fish), engaging several engravers including Collaert, all based on original drawings by the prolific Van der Straet.  Bird hunts form an important sub-theme. The volume was republished by Philips Galle's son, Johannes, in 1634.

This print depicts the varied animal life of Ethiopia, conveying the peaceful kingdom where beasts harmoniously co-exist. The only violence comes from humans, hunting elephants, two of whom stampede towards the foreground. Tim Smith, Victoria University of Wellington, has kindly translated the Renaissance Latin inscription, immediately below the image: 'The land of the Ethiopians contains all manner of wild beasts: tigers, lions, wild bulls, ostriches, and stags. And many animals live peacefully together. It is a custom of the elephant-eaters to hunt elephants.'

See: Chris Michaelis, http://blogs.bl.uk/european/2015/09/joannes-stradanus-and-his-hunting-scenes.html

Dr Mark Stocker           Curator, Historical International Art            March 2017