Yale Center for British Art, Given by Paul Mellon in memory of his friend James Cox Brady, Yale College, Class of 1929
Copyright Status:
Public Domain
Accession Number:
B1976.7.88
Gallery Label:
In the final scene of the shooting series, evening falls, and the huntsmen gather their spoils—or, as the verses accompanying Woollett’s engraving put it, the “mingled produce of the recent dead.” Unlike the other three paintings in the series, which all feature relatively open skies, the opposite is now the case: the huntsmen are surrounded by a tangled forest that makes up the majority of the painted surface, emphasizing the darkness of “Calm Eve’s approach.” The verses added to the engraving of this painting lead us to ponder a fifth (imaginary) episode: a night scene in which the huntsmen “rehearse the oft told tale” of their success over a feast. Gallery label for installation of YCBA collection, 2016
