Hunting

Annibale Carracci painted this hunt in Bologna, before he left for Rome, as the companion to the fishing scene beside it, and he shows the day out as a crowd of people with jobs to do. A servant in a red coat strides in with a pole over his shoulder, a lady in a plumed hat points the way, dogs sniff about or lie resting, and a lookout on the rise shades his eyes. Far back in the valley, riders on pale horses are already after the quarry. In the corner, servants lay out the meal, cooling flasks in a stream beside a basket and a patient donkey. By 1695 the pair hung at Versailles, in the apartment of Louis XIV's son, the Grand Dauphin. Their carved gilt frames date from that court, each with ornaments suited to its own sport.