Venationes ferarum, avium, piscium (Hunts of wild animals, birds and fish). Plate 70. Goose and duck hunt with falcons.

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.

The theme of this print is how to hunt geese and ducks - blow the horn, bang the drums, scare the birds and get your fellow hunters to release their falcons. This is made clear in the Renaissance Latin inscription just below the image, kindly translated by Tim Smith (Victoria University of Wellington): 'The goose and the duck are frightened by the horn and drums: the crafty bird-catcher frightens and chases the terrified birds. When they fly from this by rising up into the air with their wings, they are unable to evade the rapacious falcon.'

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

Dr Mark Stocker           Curator, Historical International Art            March 2017