Venationes ferarum, avium, piscium (Hunts of wild animals, birds and fish). Plate 82. Catching birds by night.

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 (not signed by him but attributed to him); 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 illustrates catching birds by night, following the practice of English hunters. The Renaissance Latin inscription, just below the image, has been kindly translated by Tim Smith, Victoria University of Wellington: 'The English bird-catcher drives away the incautious birds from their nests at the dead of night. To stop them hiding in the branches, he drives them off with sticks, and harasses them with fire. Eventually, as his prize gets tired, he finally captures it.'

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