Dying Stag

ca. 1830

Not on view

The stag’s lolling tongue and the red, matted fur on its underbelly indicate that the animal is fatally wounded. Its poignant gaze at the viewer amplifies the pathos of the moment. Landseer’s experiences with deer stalking, or hunting on foot, in the Scottish Highlands provided him with an intimate perspective on the life, and death, of wild deer, and a nearly inexhaustible source of inspiration for his art. From small-scale studies to ambitious paintings, Landseer’s powers of observation and emotional nuance made him the greatest practitioner of animal subjects in nineteenth-century Britain.

Artwork Details

Object Information

Overview

Catalogue Entry

Signatures, Inscriptions, and Markings

Provenance

Title: Dying Stag
Artist: Sir Edwin Henry Landseer (British, London 1802–1873 London)
Date: ca. 1830
Medium: Oil on canvas
Dimensions: 18 1/16 × 21 1/16 in. (45.9 × 53.5 cm)
Classification: Paintings
Credit Line: Gift of the Eugene V. and Clare E. Thaw Charitable Trust, 2018
Object Number: 2018.289.5
Curatorial Department: European Paintings

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