Jacht op wilde stieren 1598

Antonio Tempesta etched "Jacht op wilde stieren" around 1600, a scene teeming with primal energy. Here, the dominant image is the bull—a symbol resonating through millennia. In ancient Crete, the bull was worshipped, a sacred beast embodying raw power, fertility, and untamed nature. We see echoes of this in the bullfighting traditions of Spain, where the dance between matador and bull is a ritual echoing ancient myths of control and sacrifice. Yet, notice how Tempesta depicts the hunt. The bull is not a solitary figure of majesty, but a creature besieged by dogs and hunters. The image evokes a collective, almost frenzied energy, a 'furor' that mirrors the ecstatic rites of Dionysus, where animals were torn apart in communal frenzy. This echoes our deepest fears and desires, our collective memory of the hunt, where man confronts his own mortality. In this cyclical progression, the bull morphs from deity to prey, a constant reminder of the shifting balance between civilization and the wild within us.