Dying Stag
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
- 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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Sir Edwin Henry Landseer
ca. 1817–20
Sir Edwin Henry Landseer
August 8, 1848
Sir Edwin Henry Landseer
J. Marshall
19th century
Sir Edwin Henry Landseer
1871
Multiple artists/makers
1878 (?)
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