drawing
- Museum number
- 1846,0509.192
- Description
-
Meleager and Atalanta hunting the Calydonian boar; two hounds chasing the boar towards centre, Atalanta standing with arrow poised aiming at the boar, Meleager stopping the boar in its tracks by swinging a large spear in front, a hound at his heels at left, tree at left and landscape in distance
Pen and brown ink, with brown wash, on brown paper
- Production date
- 1650-1670
- Dimensions
-
Height: 107 millimetres
-
Width: 149 millimetres
- Curator's comments
- This drawing and another by the same hand (1846,0509.193) was probably made as a preparatory study for a stage set or other temporary decoration in Madrid. Harold Wethey (1952) regarded the drawing as Flemish but López Torrijos (1985) correctly pointed out that it is was close to Francisco Rizi. The drawings should be dated to the middle of the 17th century have a strong resemblance to the work of Rizi, Cano and Herrera Barnuevo. This drawing, its companion and a large number of others have recently been attributed to Matías de Torres by Teresa Zapata (2010) however there are to many variables in the works attributed to Torres for the attribution to be entirely convincing. There can be little doubt however that mythological scenes like these were entirely appropriate for ephemeral structures (temporary arches etc).
Literature
R. López Torrijos, 'La mitologia en la pintura española del Siglo de Oro', Madrid, 1985, fig.177, p.382; H. E. Wethey, 'Alonso Cano's drawings', Art Bulletin, 1952, vol.34, pp.233-34; T. Zapata, Master Drawings, XLVIII, 2010, pp.482-97.
- Location
- Not on display
- Acquisition date
- 1846
- Department
- Prints and Drawings
- Registration number
- 1846,0509.192