The big deer 

Luc-Olivier Merson made this monochrome artwork. At first glance, it depicts a hunter and a deer, but it also encapsulates shifting social attitudes towards nature in 19th-century France. The hunter, traditionally a figure of power and dominion, is here rendered vulnerable, hiding behind a tree, while the deer stands tall and imposing. This reversal challenges traditional hierarchies, questioning man's dominance over the natural world. Merson was a professor at the Académie Julian, and in 1869, he was elected to the Académie des Beaux-Arts. As such, he was part of the French art establishment. But perhaps this image is not as conservative as his institutional affiliations might suggest. France was becoming more urbanized and industrialized, and as a result, the wilderness was becoming a precious commodity, a place for recreation and retreat. "The Big Deer," may reflect this nostalgia for a disappearing natural world. To fully understand an artwork like this, we need to consider the social and institutional forces that shaped its creation and reception. Researching the artist's biography, the prevailing social attitudes of the time, and the institutional context in which the artwork was produced, can all shed light on its meaning and significance.