Stag Hunt

This drawing of aristocratic hunters pursuing a stag is probably by one of the members of the Pérelle family, a group of artists that included Gabriel (1603-1677) and his sons Nicholas (1631-1695) and Adam (1638-1695). The Pérelles have been called "the most fertile manufactory of landscape engravings" in France in the seventeenth century. Gabriel and Adam produced over thirteen hundred landscape engravings, and it is difficult to distinguish between father and son. The present drawing conforms to the traditions of their output: the lines used in it are regular and without emphasis or contrast. The engravings were prepared by detailed drawings and it is probable that this drawing was intended to be engraved.