Venationes ferarum, avium, piscium (Hunts of wild animals, birds and fish). Plate 66: Trapping ducks

This print is the work of three major Flemish figures of the late 16th century: the original artist Jan Van der Straet (a.k.a. Stradanus), the engraver Jan Collaert II; and the publisher Philips Galle. The success of Van der Straet's cartoons for a hunting series to decorate the Medici villa at Poggio a Caiano, near Florence (1566-77), led to the leading Flemish publishers Heronymus Cock, and subsequently Galle, to commission related engravings in the 1570s and 1580s. (Galle also engraved/published other works by Van der Straet, including his <em>Crucifixion</em>, in Te Papa's collection).

These proved so popular that in 1596 Galle published the ambitious, 105 plate volume <em>Venationes, ferarum, arium, piscium </em>(Hunts of wild animals, birds and fish), engaging several engravers including Collaert, all based on original drawings by the prolific Van der Straet. Bird hunts form an important sub-theme. The volume was republished by Philips Galle's son, Johannes, in 1634.

This print depicts the ingenious means deployed to catch ducks. The Renaissance Latin inscription, immediately below the image, has been kindly translated by Tim Smith, Victoria University of Wellington: 'With his innovative practice, the crafty bird-catcher awaits four ducks. The bait is put out so that their hunger drives them to this place. To stop them eating everything, they are frightened with rods. They are then joined by a crowd of men so that the ducks don’t fly away and escape.'

See: Chris Michaelides, http://blogs.bl.uk/european/2015/09/joannes-stradanus-and-his-hunting-scenes.html

Dr Mark Stocker           Curator, Historical International Art            March 2017