Philips Wouwerman

The Falcon Hunt

c. 1658 - c. 1660

Inscriptions

  • signature, with monogram, bottom right (letters of first name ligated):PHiLs W

Technical notes

Support The rolled copper plate is approx. 0.1 cm thick. The front was roughened through small parallel scratches (visible at areas of paint loss), in order to facilitate the adhesion of the ground.
Preparatory layers The single, thin, greyish ground extends up to the edges of the support. It consists of white and small black pigment particles.
Underdrawing No underdrawing could be detected with the naked eye or infrared photography.
Paint layers The paint extends up to the edges of the support. The composition was efficiently built up in what appear to be one or two layers on top of the ground, with the figures added over the landscape. A cross-section shows that the blue sky was applied in two layers: the first being a thick greyish blue containing white and glassy translucent pigment particles, followed by a thinner, deep blue layer composed of white and smaller blue pigment particles. The dark foreground consists of one yellowish-brown layer containing yellow pigment with an addition of white, small black pigment particles and a few blue and red pigments. The sky and the light blue landscape in the background were painted opaquely, whereas the dark foreground is semi-transparent. The paint surface is smooth, with some open brushwork in the sky.
Ige Verslype, 2022

Scientific examination and reports

  • infrared photography: I. Verslype, RMA, 6 oktober 2007
  • paint samples: I. Verslype, RMA, nos. SK-A-481/1-2, 6 oktober 2007
  • technical report: I. Verslype, RMA, 6 oktober 2007

Condition

Good. The reverse has small and seemingly stable areas of partial delamination of the copper, maybe due to an irregularity rolled into the copper plate. There are a few small paint losses.

Provenance

...; collection Etienne-François (1719-1785), Duc de Choiseul-Stainville, Paris;1According to an inscription on an engraving by Balthasar-Anton Dunker (1746-1807), c. 1770-72; V.L. Atwater, A Catalogue and Analysis of Eighteenth-Century French Prints after Netherlandish Baroque Paintings, IV, Ann Arbor 1989, p. 1524, no. 1954. his sale, Paris (J.F. Boileau), 1 (6) April 1772 sqq., no. 51 (‘Ce petit tableau représente de belles plaines; terminées par quelques montagnes & un beau ciel; sur le devant on voit nombre de Cavaliers & une jeune Dame à cheval partant pour chasser au vol. [...] 10 pouces & demi de large sur 9 pouces de haut [28.4 x 24.3 cm] C.’), 3,000 livres, to Paillet,2Copy RKD. probably for Louis François I de Bourbon (1717-1776), Prince de Conti;3J. Edwards, Alexandre-Joseph Paillet: Expert et marchand de tableaux à la fin du XVIIIe siècle, Paris 1996, p. 200, note 24. his sale, Paris (P. Remy), 8 (25) April 1777 sqq., no. 344 (‘Des belles plaines terminées par des montagnes, & un beau ciel; sur le devant du tableau sont nombre de cavaliers & une jeune dame à cheval, partant pour la chasse du vol; dans l’éloignement, on apperçoit encore des chasseurs. Ce tableau [...] est peint sur cuivre: hauteur 9 pouces, largeur 10 pouces 6 lignes [24.3 x 28.4 cm]; il vient du Cabinet de M. le Duc de Choiseul, no. 51 du Catalogue.’), 4,000 livres;4The price according to an annotation in copy RKD2 of the catalogue for the sale, Claude Tolozan (1728-1796, Paris), Paris (A. Paillet and H. Delaroche), 23 (25) February 1801 sqq., no. 146. his sale, Paris (N.F.J. Boileau), 15 March 1779 sqq., no. 141 (‘Un petit Tableau représentant de belles plaines terminées par quelques montagnes & un beau ciel: sur le devant on voit quantité de Cavaliers & une jeune Dame à cheval se disposant à partir pour la chasse au vol. [...] Hauteur, 9 pouces; largeur, 10 pouces & demi [24.3 x 28.4 cm]. C[uivre]. no. 344 du Cat. de M. le P. de C.’), 2,700 livres, to Alexandre-Louis Hersant Destouches (1731-1794), Paris;5Copy RKD. his sale, Paris (A.J. Lebrun and P.F. Julliot), 21 March 1794 sqq., no. 158 (‘Le point de vue très-étendu, d’une pleine bordée de montagnes qui se détachent sur un ciel brillant & admirablement nuagé. Tout le premier plan est orné d’une quantité de petites figures de cavaliers, hommes & femmes, formant un sujet de chasse au vol [...]. Sur cuivre, Haut. 9 pou., larg. 11 pouc. [24.3 x 29.7 cm]’), 5,951 livres, to the dealer Antoine-Charles Dulac;6Copy RKD....; sale, Claude Tolozan (1728-1796, Paris), Paris (A. Paillet and H. Delaroche), 23 (25) February 1801 sqq., no. 146 (‘Peint sur cuivre, haut de 9½, large de 11 pouces [25.7 x 29.7 cm]. Encore un de ces précieux morceaux difficiles à rencontrer; il est connu sous le titre de la Chasse au vol. Dans un vaste paysage découvert, on voit une compagnie de chasseurs à cheval, parmi lesquels est une femme; ils suivent au grand galop un cavalier monté sur un cheval isabelle. [...]’), fr. 2,750, to Philippe,7Copy RKD. or to Pieter Joseph Thijs, for Gerrit van der Pot (1732-1807), Lord of Groeneveld, Rotterdam;8GPI, F-1, and Journaal Pot van Groeneveld, 23 February 1801: ‘Een valkejacht. Op de verkooping van C. Tolozan te Parijs No 146 door P.J. Thijs voor mij gekogt voor Fr 2750 beloopende met 2½ pct opgeld, 5 pct commissie vragt en onkosten f 1407,15.’ See T. Zeedijk, ‘‘Tot Voordeel en Genoegen’: De schilderijenverzameling van Gerrit van der Pot van Groenevelt’, Bulletin van het Rijksmuseum 55 (2007), pp. 128-207, esp. p. 197, no. 215. his sale, Rotterdam (Gebr. Van Ryp), 6 June 1808 sqq., no. 143 (‘Hoog 9½, en breed 11 duim [24.8 x 28.7 cm]. Koper. Dit stuk is bekend onder den naam der Reigerjagt. Op den voorgrond ziet men drie Heeren en eene Dame te Paard, vergezeld van een Bediende en Honden. De tweede grond is mede verrijkt met het verder gevolg tot eene Reigerjagt behoorende. Een verschiet, doorsneden met eene Rivier, eindigt in aangenaam Gebergte, dat zich aan den horizont met de rijk bewolkte lucht vereenigt [...]. Daar hetzelve mede tot het Kabinet van den Hertog van Choiseul behoord heeft, zoo is de gegraveerde Kunstplaat daarvan in die bekende collectie te vinden [...].’), fl. 3,030, to J. de Wit, for the museum;9Copy RMA. on loan through the DRVK since 1958; on loan to the Gallery Prince Willem V, The Hague, 1977-2003; on loan to the J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles, since 2008

ObjectNumber: SK-A-481

The artist

Biography

Philips Wouwerman (Haarlem 1619 - Haarlem 1668)

Philips Wouwerman was baptized in Haarlem on 24 May 1619 as a son of the history painter Pouwels Joostensz, who was probably his teacher. De Bie says that he was a pupil of Frans Hals, although their work has nothing in common. An apprenticeship with Pieter Cornelisz Verbeeck is suspected on stylistic grounds. Another important influence was Pieter van Laer, who was also Haarlem-born and bred. It is known from notes made by the artist Matthias Scheits that Wouwerman, who came from a Reformed family, fled to Hamburg in 1638 in order to marry the Catholic Anna Pietersdr van Broeckhoff. He stayed there for a while, working in the studio of the history painter Evert Decker, but two years later he is again documented in his native Haarlem, where he remained for the rest of his life.

Wouwerman’s earliest dated painting is Military Encampment with Soldiers Gambling of 1639.10Private collection; illustrated in B. Schumacher, Philips Wouwerman (1619-1668): The Horse Painter of the Golden Age, II, Doornspijk 2006, pl. 299. He joined the Haarlem Guild of St Luke in 1640, being elected to the office of warden in 1646, and from 1642 and 1651 he served in the St George Civic Guard. Wouwerman made several history pieces with religious subjects for Catholic patrons. It is clear from various sources that he was a prosperous man. Houbraken mentions that he had important patrons from the very beginning of his career, and was able to give his daughter a dowry of 20,000 guilders. He supplemented his income by speculating on the property market and dealing in art. However, there are also indications that he suffered periods of poverty. For example, he is said to have painted his Miracle of St Hubert in 1660 for the clandestine Sint-Bernarduskerk in Haarlem in thanks for the financial support he had received from the parish priest. He remained productive to the end of his life, with his last dated picture, Grey Standing in a Stable,11Private collection, on loan to the Frans Hals Museum; illustrated in B. Schumacher, Philips Wouwerman (1619-1668): The Horse Painter of the Golden Age, II, Doornspijk 2006, pl. 11. being executed in the year of his death. He died on 19 May 1668 and was buried in the Nieuwe Kerk in Haarlem four days later. Paintings by or belonging to him were sold at auction on 7 May 1670, a few months after the decease of his wife.

Wouwerman gained fame as a painter of horses, and specialized in landscapes with riders, ranging from battle scenes and army camps to hunting parties, horse fairs and stables. He also supplied the figures in landscapes by other Haarlem artists like Jacob van Ruisdael, Jan Wijnants and Cornelis Decker. His many pupils included Nicolaes Ficke (c. 1620/23-before 1702), Emanuel Murant (1622-c. 1700), Simon Dubois (1632-1708) and Anthonie de Haen (1640/41-in or before 1675). He may also have taught his younger brothers Pieter (1623-1682) and Jan (1629-1666). Wouwerman’s work, which in the eighteenth century fetched some of the highest prices for paintings from the Dutch Golden Age, was imitated by countless others.

Gerdien Wuestman, 2022

References
T. Schrevelius, Harlemias, Haarlem 1648, p. 384; C. de Bie, Het gulden cabinet van de edel vrij schilder const, inhoudende den lof vande vermarste schilders, architecte, beldthowers ende plaetsnijders van deze eeuw, Antwerp 1662, pp. 281-82; A. Houbraken, De groote schouburgh der Nederlantsche konstschilders en schilderessen, II, Amsterdam 1719, pp. 70-75, 102; R. van Eynden and A. van der Willigen, Geschiedenis der vaderlandsche schilderkunst, sedert de helft der XVIII eeuw, I, Haarlem 1816, pp. 404-06; A. van der Willigen, Geschiedkundige aanteekeningen over Haarlemsche schilders en andere beoefenaren van de beeldende kunsten, voorafgegaan door eene korte geschiedenis van het schilders- of St. Lucas Gild aldaar, Haarlem 1866, pp. 241-44; C.J. Gonnet, ‘De schilders Pouwels, Pieter en Steven Wouwerman’, in F.D.O. Obreen, Archief voor Nederlandsche kunstgeschiedenis: Verzameling van meerendeels onuitgegeven berichten en mededeelingen betreffende Nederlandsche schilders, plaatsnijders, beeldhouwers, bouwmeesters, juweliers, goud- en zilverdrijvers [enz.], VII, Rotterdam 1888-90, pp. 118-26; C. Hofstede de Groot, ‘Die Malerfamilie Wouwerman’, Kunstchronik, N.S. 2 (1890-91), cols. 1-5; A. Lichtwark, Matthias Scheits, als Schilderer des Hamburger Lebens, 1650-1700, Hamburg 1899, pp. 43-44; S. Kalff, ‘De gebroeders Wouwerman’, Elsevier’s Geïllustreerd Maandschrift 30 (1920), pp. 96-103; U. Thieme and F. Becker (eds.), Allgemeines Lexikon der bildenden Künstler von der Antike bis zur Gegenwart, XXXVI, Leipzig 1947, pp. 265-68; H. Miedema, De archiefbescheiden van het St. Lucasgilde te Haarlem, 1497-1798, II, Alphen aan den Rijn 1980, p. 1211; F.J. Duparc, ‘Philips Wouwerman, 1619-1668’, Oud Holland 107 (1993), pp. 257-86; B. Schumacher, Philips Wouwerman (1619-1668): The Horse Painter of the Golden Age, I, Doornspijk 2006, pp. 13-21, 25-38; I. van Thiel-Stroman, ‘Biographies 15th-17th Century’, in P. Biesboer et al., Painting in Haarlem 1500-1850: The Collection of the Frans Hals Museum, coll. cat. Haarlem 2006, pp. 99-363, esp. pp. 357-61

Entry

This painting used to be known as The Heron Hunt, according to the Dutch edition of the catalogue of the Van der Pot sale in 1808, and that is the title it has always had in the Rijksmuseum. In other early auction catalogues, however, it is described as a ‘chasse au vol’ (bird hunt),12See Provenance. See also J. Smith, A Catalogue Raisonné of the Works of the Most Eminent Dutch, Flemish and French Painters, I, London 1829, p. 230, no. 100, and C. Hofstede de Groot, Beschreibendes und kritisches Verzeichnis der Werke der hervorragendsten holländischen Maler des XVII. Jahrhunderts, II, Esslingen/Paris 1908, p. 429, no. 587, who give it the title A Hawking Party and a Gesellschaft auf der Falkenjagd respectively. and a close study of the scene shows that there is no heron depicted.13This was first pointed out by W. Huyskens, De vrije vogelvlugt: Kunst en valkerij: Motief, portret, gedicht, Zutphen 1992, p. 55. The detail above the heads of the hunters in the foreground that had been taken as such in the nineteenth century,14P.L. Dubourcq, Beschrijving der schilderijen op ’s Rijks Museum te Amsterdam met fac simile der naamteekens, coll. cat. Amsterdam 1858, p. 167: ‘(...) the heron, attacked by the falcons, is flying over the hunters’ heads’. is in fact a lure, an artificial prey used to bring hawks back to their handlers.15W. Huyskens, De vrije vogelvlugt: Kunst en valkerij: Motief, portret, gedicht, Zutphen 1992, p. 55. It can be seen more clearly in a few other paintings by Wouwerman, such as Three Riders Hawking, private collection; B. Schumacher, Philips Wouwerman (1619-1668): The Horse Painter of the Golden Age, I, Doornspijk 2006, p. 226, no. A142; ibid., II, 2006, colour pl. 21.

The golden yellow sunlight in the background shows that Philips Wouwerman was not immune to the influence of the Italianate landscape painters of his day. The blue-grey and in the distance even lilac tones are typical of the artist. The clearly visible brushwork in the sky contributes greatly to the dynamism of the composition. Like The Stag Hunt it is executed on copper.16See SK-A-480. There are some 15 pictures by Wouwerman on that expensive support, most of them from the late 1650s.17B. Schumacher, Philips Wouwerman (1619-1668): The Horse Painter of the Golden Age, I, Doornspijk 2006, p. 69. See, for example, his Stag Hunt of c. 1659-60 in a private collection; illustrated in Q. Buvelot (ed.), Philips Wouwerman (1619-1668), exh. cat. Kassel (Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister)/The Hague (Mauritshuis) 2009-10, p. 115. This elegant hunting scene probably dates from that period as well.

Gerdien Wuestman, 2022

See Key to abbreviations, Rijksmuseum painting catalogues and Acknowledgements

Literature

J. Smith, A Catalogue Raisonné of the Works of the Most Eminent Dutch, Flemish and French Painters, I, London 1829, p. 230, no. 100; C. Hofstede de Groot, Beschreibendes und kritisches Verzeichnis der Werke der hervorragendsten holländischen Maler des XVII. Jahrhunderts, II, Esslingen/Paris 1908, pp. 429-30, no. 587; B. Schumacher, Philips Wouwerman (1619-1668): The Horse Painter of the Golden Age, I, Doornspijk 2006, p. 237, no. A169, with earlier literature; ibid., II, 2006, pl. 158

Collection catalogues

1809, p. 85, no. 360; 1843, p. 71, no. 359 (‘the sky and the vista have been damaged’); 1853, p. 31, no. 331 (fl. 2,000); 1858, pp. 166-67, no. 369; 1880, p. 351, no. 412; 1887, p. 193, no. 1652; 1903, p. 304, no. 2714; 1934, p. 324, no. 2714; 1976, pp. 615-16, no. A 481; 1992, p. 94, no. A 481

Citation

Gerdien Wuestman, 2022, 'Philips Wouwerman, The Falcon Hunt, c. 1658 - c. 1660', in J. Bikker (ed.), Dutch Paintings of the Seventeenth Century in the Rijksmuseum, online coll. cat. Amsterdam: hdl.handle.net/10934/RM0001.COLLECT.6826

(accessed 6 June 2025 16:44:18).

Footnotes

  • 1According to an inscription on an engraving by Balthasar-Anton Dunker (1746-1807), c. 1770-72; V.L. Atwater, A Catalogue and Analysis of Eighteenth-Century French Prints after Netherlandish Baroque Paintings, IV, Ann Arbor 1989, p. 1524, no. 1954.
  • 2Copy RKD.
  • 3J. Edwards, Alexandre-Joseph Paillet: Expert et marchand de tableaux à la fin du XVIIIe siècle, Paris 1996, p. 200, note 24.
  • 4The price according to an annotation in copy RKD2 of the catalogue for the sale, Claude Tolozan (1728-1796, Paris), Paris (A. Paillet and H. Delaroche), 23 (25) February 1801 sqq., no. 146.
  • 5Copy RKD.
  • 6Copy RKD.
  • 7Copy RKD.
  • 8GPI, F-1, and Journaal Pot van Groeneveld, 23 February 1801: ‘Een valkejacht. Op de verkooping van C. Tolozan te Parijs No 146 door P.J. Thijs voor mij gekogt voor Fr 2750 beloopende met 2½ pct opgeld, 5 pct commissie vragt en onkosten f 1407,15.’ See T. Zeedijk, ‘‘Tot Voordeel en Genoegen’: De schilderijenverzameling van Gerrit van der Pot van Groenevelt’, Bulletin van het Rijksmuseum 55 (2007), pp. 128-207, esp. p. 197, no. 215.
  • 9Copy RMA.
  • 10Private collection; illustrated in B. Schumacher, Philips Wouwerman (1619-1668): The Horse Painter of the Golden Age, II, Doornspijk 2006, pl. 299.
  • 11Private collection, on loan to the Frans Hals Museum; illustrated in B. Schumacher, Philips Wouwerman (1619-1668): The Horse Painter of the Golden Age, II, Doornspijk 2006, pl. 11.
  • 12See Provenance. See also J. Smith, A Catalogue Raisonné of the Works of the Most Eminent Dutch, Flemish and French Painters, I, London 1829, p. 230, no. 100, and C. Hofstede de Groot, Beschreibendes und kritisches Verzeichnis der Werke der hervorragendsten holländischen Maler des XVII. Jahrhunderts, II, Esslingen/Paris 1908, p. 429, no. 587, who give it the title A Hawking Party and a Gesellschaft auf der Falkenjagd respectively.
  • 13This was first pointed out by W. Huyskens, De vrije vogelvlugt: Kunst en valkerij: Motief, portret, gedicht, Zutphen 1992, p. 55.
  • 14P.L. Dubourcq, Beschrijving der schilderijen op ’s Rijks Museum te Amsterdam met fac simile der naamteekens, coll. cat. Amsterdam 1858, p. 167: ‘(...) the heron, attacked by the falcons, is flying over the hunters’ heads’.
  • 15W. Huyskens, De vrije vogelvlugt: Kunst en valkerij: Motief, portret, gedicht, Zutphen 1992, p. 55. It can be seen more clearly in a few other paintings by Wouwerman, such as Three Riders Hawking, private collection; B. Schumacher, Philips Wouwerman (1619-1668): The Horse Painter of the Golden Age, I, Doornspijk 2006, p. 226, no. A142; ibid., II, 2006, colour pl. 21.
  • 16See SK-A-480.
  • 17B. Schumacher, Philips Wouwerman (1619-1668): The Horse Painter of the Golden Age, I, Doornspijk 2006, p. 69. See, for example, his Stag Hunt of c. 1659-60 in a private collection; illustrated in Q. Buvelot (ed.), Philips Wouwerman (1619-1668), exh. cat. Kassel (Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister)/The Hague (Mauritshuis) 2009-10, p. 115.