Elephant Hunt, Jan van der Straet, c. 1578

Elephant Hunt, Jan van der Straet, c. 1578

pen and brown ink, with blue wash, heightened with white, on blue prepared paper, h 208mm × w 304mm More details

The Flemish artist Jan van der Straet is best known for his hunting scenes, which were also translated into prints. He never studied most of the animals from life. Thus in this drawing, the elephant is rather small in proportion to the horses. The artist was more interested in the composition and the dynamic linear interplay of the spears.