Landschap met leeuwenjacht 1600 - 1620

Editor: So, we’re looking at "Landscape with a Lion Hunt", a print from between 1600 and 1620 by Justus Sadeler. It's incredibly detailed, and even though it’s a chaotic scene, it feels surprisingly… stately, almost staged, wouldn't you say? I’m really curious, what do you make of the relationship between the intense action and this kind of calm formality? Curator: Stately, yes! I think it's because of that crisp line work, typical of engravings. Think about how stage sets present action. This piece, with its tiered perspective, almost feels like a theater of hunting, right? There’s the immediacy of the lions battling the hunters up close, and then the backdrop gradually fading into this generalized chaos on the horizon. Look at how the horses prance, it is almost like an idealized dance of battle. Does the work say anything else to you? Editor: Definitely the ‘theater’ feel! The scale differences of the people further away also highlights that a bit. I didn't notice how idealized the horses look... it is as if they were trying to 'pose'. All the 'stately' parts make it so different from contemporary, graphic action scenes that try to make viewers feel 'inside' the action and not 'above' it. Do you think viewers then wanted to look at exciting action like a king would, detached, in charge, in control? Curator: An interesting thought! Perhaps! What I see are also subtle comments about power – taming, hunting – even colonialism through that hunting trope! Artists from the 16th century into the 17th kept circling around power and its relationship to spectacle. Even if sometimes I wish for just a tad more raw immediacy and emotional investment, but yes, perspective changes everything, doesn’t it? Editor: It really does. It's fascinating to think about the power dynamics baked into this "Landscape with a Lion Hunt." I initially only noticed the excitement. Thanks for that new perspective! Curator: Likewise. It’s amazing how looking at one print can open up a whole vista of ideas!