Pieter Bruegel, the elder
Flemish, 1525/30-1569
The Hare Hunters
INV-2537
Pieter Bruegel, the elder
Flemish, 1525/30-15691566
The Hare Hunters
Pieter Bruegel, the elder Flemish, 1525/30-1569 →etchingprint
Date
1566
Medium
Etching in black on ivory laid paper
Dimensions
Image: 21.5 × 29.2 cm (8 1/2 × 11 1/2 in.); Sheet: 24.6 × 31.8 cm (9 11/16 × 12 9/16 in.)
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Location
Chicago, IL
Credit
Clarence Buckingham Collection
This etching might represent two related proverbs popularized by the philosopher/writer Erasmus in the mid-1500s: “He who chases two hares catches neither” and “A hare yourself, you hunt for prey.” In compositional terms, the proverb served Pieter Bruegel the Elder as more of a pretext for the sweeping landscape scene that occupies most of the printed field.
Bruegel’s inf luence on the early development of the landscape genre cannot be overestimated. He created important landscape drawings, but his impact spread even more forcefully through the medium of printmaking. This is the only etching he is believed to have executed himself.
Also notable
Works in the same vein
The Resurrection
Philip Galle (Flemish, 1537–1612) after Pieter Bruegel, the Elder (Flemish, 1525/30-1569)
Forest Landscape with Wild Animals
After Pieter Bruegel, the elder Flemish, 1525/30-1569
Saint Jerome in the Desert
Hieronymus Cock (Flemish, c. 1510-1570) after Pieter Bruegel the elder (Flemish, 1525/30-1569)
