Rabbit hunt

On a hillside overlooking a broad valley, a hunter accompanied by his alert dog takes aim at two rabbits, while another man carrying a spear circles the tree behind him. What appears at first to be an image of a landscape might in fact be an illustration of the proverb 'He who pursues two rabbits at once, will lose both'. However, the actions of the man with the spear are unclear and even ominous, demonstrating an ambiguity typical of Pieter Bruegel's work. Bruegel was in great demand as a designer of prints, which were executed by skilled engravers; this rare etching is the only print he made himself. The freedom afforded by the etching technique - drawing with a pointed tool through a thin layer of ground on the printing plate - allowed him to render the scene with the remarkable naturalism found in his drawings and paintings, and to vividly evoke light and atmosphere.