The Return from the Hunt 1494 - 1500

Piero di Cosimo made this panel painting, *The Return from the Hunt*, using oil paint, a relatively new medium in the late 15th century. The artist worked the oil to create a landscape populated by hybrid creatures, painted with an attention to rendering textures. Note the bodies of the satyrs and centaurs; they are given a soft, almost fleshy quality through the subtle blending of tones. It is easy to imagine Cosimo mixing the colors and layering them on the wooden support to create the overall effect. Look closely, and you can see how the oil paint allowed him to blend colors seamlessly, creating soft transitions that enhance the organic, almost tactile quality of the figures. The theme itself—the dawn of civilization—suggests a world in which craft and the natural world were closely aligned. The artist's labor is evident in the meticulous detail, blurring the lines between fine art and skilled handcraft.