Jacht op herten 1609

Curator: Look at this piece; it’s Antonio Tempesta's “Deer Hunt,” crafted back in 1609. What springs to mind when you see it? Editor: Total chaos! In a good way, I think. It's teeming with this manic energy, all tangled lines and urgent movement. The whole scene is vibrating. You can almost hear the baying of the hounds. Curator: Tempesta’s known for these intricate scenes, full of activity and drama. What is interesting here, from a socio-historical perspective, is how the hunt was represented. Often the nobility are celebrated, it's about domination, leisure and power. What do you make of it? Editor: You are absolutely right; I immediately think about all the symbolism of domination, about the hunt, the forest, a playground only for nobility. All that violent energy does carry a darker undercurrent, reflecting the power structures of the time. Are there elements of landscape and classicism here? Curator: Precisely, we can see these elements that blend the classical with this sort of Baroque dynamism. The ruined building, classical figure types with more turbulent energies of Baroque. Tempesta created his market not by making single images, but images within a set; images with particular political intent. He knew how to produce things that could be consumed. Editor: That’s interesting – to consider it almost as a kind of early mass media. Something almost reportage like to satisfy appetite of upper-class patrons eager for sensational and accessible images. Curator: Yes, exactly, and one should remember the market drove that image production and dissemination. Tempesta’s skills catered to it very directly. Editor: It certainly does make you ponder on who we were back then as people; how the powerful had their image carefully controlled while nature had a raw power. This engraving packs a punch, doesn't it? Curator: Indeed. It makes you reflect on the world, the chase... perhaps our own hunts too.