A Falconer in a Landscape

The Monogrammist M.S. is known only from his signature on this drawing.

A horse awaits at the right, while a falconer and his royal dog lure back the falcon, shown bent over his prey. Crisp black outlines with small hatchings represent light and shadow and give three-dimensional form to the land, trees, and figures. In an approach typical of the 1500s, layers, or strips of land that together build a sense of depth, show the recession from foreground to background. To emphasize the vast distance of the mountains and town in the background, the Monogrammist M.S. sketched in only the barest of outlines indicating the far-off trees with tiny ovals. The drawing's high level of finish and prominent monogram and date indicate that he may have made it as a gift for a friend.

Hunting scenes of this type were extremely popular in German art of the 1500s. By the Middle Ages, falconry, the art of using birds of prey (falcons, hawks, and sometimes eagles) to hunt game, had become a favorite pastime of wealthy aristocrats in Western Europe.