Landschap bij Brussel met hertenjacht 1620 - 1640

Denis van Alsloot made this drawing of a deer hunt near Brussels with pen and watercolor. Alsloot served as court painter to the Archdukes Albert and Isabella, governors of the Spanish Netherlands. Through this lens, the image of the hunt takes on symbolic weight. Hunting, in early modern Europe, was more than just sport, it was a ritual of power and a symbol of aristocratic privilege. Here, the figures on horseback and the carefully orchestrated pursuit of the deer is a representation of the ruling class asserting its dominance, both over nature and the social order. The institutions of court and patronage shaped Alsloot’s artistic production. Archival documents related to the court, along with studies of period hunting practices, all help to reveal the complex web of social meanings embedded in this seemingly simple landscape. By considering these contexts, we understand that art is never truly separate from the social forces that shape its creation and reception.