Dead Game with Dogs

This majestic painting by the Flemish master Jan Fyt (1611–1661) shows a life-sized arrangement of dead game and hunting paraphernalia, set against a landscape background.

Two black-and-white dogs are guarding the spoils of the hunt.

The landscape behind is divided between thick woodland and a distant vista; foothills can be seen against a low horizon.

The painting belongs to the Flemish tradition of the wooded landscape, which emerged around 1600.

At the same time, there is something notably Italianate about the view on the right – probably inspired by the Italian vedute which were popular in Holland at the time, and by a journey to Italy which the painter had made.

The painting has the atmosphere of dusk. The placing of the subjects, the colour palette, and the lighting from above all draw the viewer’s gaze to the still life of hunting trophy, guns and dogs.

Monumental still lifes of animals were a speciality of Flemish painting in the 17th century. The hunting still life was another invention of the era.

The combination of hunting trophies and live animals, as seen here, was Jan Fyt’s own innovation; it was to influence the style and subject matter of later generations of painters.