Stag Hunt c. 1653 - 1678

Paul de Vos captured this Stag Hunt in oil on canvas sometime before 1678, a drama unfolding between stag and hounds. The stag, a symbol of virility and the hunt, leaps desperately, dogs nipping at its heels. This chase is not merely a sport but a ritual, echoing through millennia. Consider the ancient Greek myth of Actaeon, transformed into a stag and torn apart by his own hounds, a cautionary tale of transgression against the divine. The motif persists, resurfacing in medieval tapestries and Renaissance paintings, each time inflected with new meanings—sometimes symbolizing Christ pursued by sin, other times the vulnerability of the soul. This image taps into our collective memory, stirring primal fears and the thrill of the chase, a dance of life and death played out across the canvas. The eternal cycle continues.