Hunting Scene in Landscape

This early 18th-century painting combines a scene of a stag-hunt with that of a man shooting of fowl. A man in a red hunting jacket fires a shotgun at birds, flying overhead, while the Master of the Foxhounds, waves a stick and calls out – apparently encouraging the pack of foxhounds to chase the stag. Hunting scenes were first seen in British painting from the early history of the sport, in the mid 17th century. Traditionally, hunting had been an activity enjoyed only by rich landowners on private land. Throughout the 1700s hunting became more widespread and publicly accessible as subscription allowed the wealthy middle and merchant classes to participate in what was formerly a pastime of only the most privileged.