1500-1515, Southern Netherlands; Pastoral

From Wingfield Digby catalogue 'Peasants are washing their feet and disporting beside a stream. A nobleman stands on the right, holding a couple of greyhounds on leash with a horn hanging at his belt. Another (both carry swords) with hawk on fist, talks to a lady on a bridge in the middle ground; a lure can be seen in his pouch. On the left a man shoots at a duck in the river with a crossbow, a retriever by his side; on the right two woodsmen or hunters emerge from the forest with a pair of hounds. A mill, a house and peasants in the wooded background.'

Acquired from the Soulages Collection.

This tapestry depicts different forms of hunting: with greyhounds, with a falcon and with a crossbow. It also includes a sly pun on the idea of the hunt, showing men pursuing women with sexual intent. The tapestry evokes the pastoral idyll with its abundantly floral background, distant windmill and scenes of peasants courting. These peasants, however, are very well-dressed, and it seems likely that they are really nobles playing at rural life.

5668A-1859