Hunting of Birds with a Hawk and a Bow (from the Hunting Parks Tapestries)

South Netherlandish

On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 305

This tapestry, with its rich colors, is packed with incidental details of animals, hunters, and shepherds. From a larger set of scenes that unfold within a hunting park, the main subject of this tapestry is bird hunting. Inside the enclosure, an archer aims for a bird perched high in a fruit tree. His companion to the left swings a lure above his head to retrieve the hawk that soars above the central tree. On the other side of the tree, a heron struggles in the clutches of a second hawk. A hunter uses a staff to vault the stream, his dog already ahead of him. A nearby shepherd has climbed the fence to watch the action.

Hunting of Birds with a Hawk and a Bow (from the Hunting Parks Tapestries), Wool and silk thread, South Netherlandish

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