Hunter Surprised 

Célestin Nanteuil made this print called "Hunter Surprised" sometime in the mid-19th century. It presents a somewhat silly encounter in the woods. The image depicts a barefoot woman dressed in white, confronted by a huge and hairy man with a rifle. It's a curious scene with potentially progressive ideas, made in a France still recovering from revolution. The hunter’s appearance might signal a kind of nature-based, even ‘noble savage’ persona, challenging dominant conceptions of class and gender. But perhaps he presents a threatening vision of working-class masculinity. To fully understand this print, we’d need to delve deeper into the visual culture of mid-19th century France, looking at popular novels, theater, and even political cartoons to grasp the social dynamics at play. It is through this careful historical analysis that the artwork begins to speak to us.