Paulus Potter. Punishment of a hunter. She is very small in size - 85 by 120 cm. 1647, Hermitage ..
This picture attracted my attention not for its artistic merits, but for the unusual plot and the manner of constructing the composition. She had never met me before.
I think it will also be interesting for you to look at it. Most importantly, it has a deep meaning. It is a consistent story of the hunter and his punishment.
About the artist.
This is a picture of the Dutchman Paulus (Petrovich) Potter from the collection of the St. Petersburg Hermitage. This is a picture-joke, a small comic book.
Paulus Potter (1625-1654) Dutch artist, representative of the golden age of Dutch painting. Paulus studied in the studio of his father, the painter Pieter Simons, as well as Jacob de Vel and, possibly, Pieter Lastman and Claes Moyert.
In 1646 he joined the Delft Guild of St. Luke. Around 1649 he lived in The Hague, where he also became a member of the painters' guild. In 1652, having married Adrian Baken Einde, Paulus Potter returned to Amsterdam, where the doctor of medicine Nicholas Tulp became his mentor. The artist died at the age of 29 from tuberculosis.
About the picture.
This picture is interesting in that in one canvas it is divided into 14 stories that consistently tell about the fate of the unfortunate hunter, who nevertheless got what he deserved.
12 plot stories on the sides tell about how and what a hunter lives, how he hunts animals, how he sets traps, how his dogs gnaw on driven animals. All side stories tell about the torment and death of forest animals that got in the way of the hunter. Two plots in the very center of the canvas tell how the animals, having combined their efforts, caught the hunter with his hunting dogs and staged a trial and execution.
The picture is divided into a number of small plot images, like icons with the lives of saints - when many events fit on one board. Along the edges are scenes of all kinds of hunting: horse, dog, with snares and with cages. Animal suffering is depicted everywhere!
ANALYSIS OF THE PICTURE IN DETAIL.
Let's start from the central picture at the top.
The central stories attract the viewer much more and this is not surprising, because here the animals are doing their lawful judgment on the man who has been killing them since time immemorial. Here are two scenes depicting the imaginary revenge of animals on their oppressors: the dogs were hung on a branch, and the hunter himself, after a trial presided over by a lion-judge and with the participation of an elephant-prosecutor, was roasted on a spit.
It is believed that the successful hunter, who caught a hare almost his own height, is the customer of the painting.
The kneeling hunter is St. Hubert: seeing a cross between the antlers of a deer, he not only spared the beast, but also parted with the hunt.
We see the death of the goat. His fate is all the sadder because there is no chance - to defend himself, to run away, to hide.
The bear is hunted with a pack of dogs.
Monkey hunting.
It is unlikely that the artist saw a similar way of catching monkeys, more like the tales of experienced travelers.
Glue is poured into the basin, curious monkeys will stick into it. Who tries on boots - not much happier. The boots are filled with glue. It won’t run far, it will only make the catcher laugh, trying to climb a tree in boots.
Other plots:
The boar cannot be saved.
The lion does not just fight, but protects the lioness.
They go to the wolf with a horn.
The leopard is taken by deception. He will see his reflection in the mirror and enter the cage.
The picture with naked women was painted not by Potter himself, but by his colleague from the city of Utrecht, K. van Poelenburg, a specialist in the mythological genre.
Nature's patience has run out. The goddess Diana, aka Artemis, punished the hunter Actaeon by turning him into a deer, which was hunted down by his own dogs. In the picture, Diana is her nymph companions.
These two pictures are placed in the center, as they are the main conclusion of the picture. Here are two scenes depicting the imaginary revenge of animals on their oppressors: the dogs were hung on a branch, and the hunter himself, after a trial presided over by a lion judge and with the participation of an elephant prosecutor, was roasted on a spit.
Animals dance for joy. And the goat stirs the coals under the spit, which is twisted
two bears. Who is tied to the spit is not visible, but you can guess.
The picture is very surprising, even for the golden age of Dutch painting, when mythological allegory, themes of sin and punishment were in vogue. The great canvas of Paulus Potter says that the world will not forgive a person who kills living beings for fun.
There is black humor and hidden symbolism on the canvas. We can say that this is a kind of "caricature" for life, which the painter saw around him. Under the punishment of the hunter it is not at all necessary to literally understand the punishment of the one who hunts animals in the forest.
A person who plots against people, deceives, steals, leads by the nose, causes suffering, etc., will be subject to the same torments of a hunter, since the world, in spite of everything, is incredibly fair!
Analysis of the picture in detail can be viewed here.http://maxpark.com/community/6782/content/3031290
Paulus Potter is an outstanding personality. An incredibly talented artist who, despite a very short life, left a huge creative legacy. His works are considered an important acquisition not only for Dutch, but also for world painting.
Biographical information
Paulus Potter was born into an artist's family in 1625. It is quite obvious that his father became the first art teacher for him. After the young man began to make progress, he was taken as a student by Jacob de Vel, a Dutch painter. Some sources say that Pieter Lastaman and Claes Moyert were also his teachers.
At the age of 21, the young artist becomes a member of the Delft Guild of St. Luke - a workshop of sculptors, painters and printers. For some time, Paulus Potter leaves for The Hague, where he also becomes a member of another guild of artists.
In 1649, having married, he returned to Amsterdam, where he spent the last years of his life.
Painting style
In all his works, Paulus Potter used the theme of animals. Such a choice was rather strange for that time, but the author was able to convince the public of the opposite. The Potter paintings are incredibly realistic and well-crafted.
With great precision, the artist depicts not only the animals themselves, but also the environment. One of the researchers of his works, having visited the artist's homeland, was able to recognize many real landscapes in the paintings. The master painted real life, which did not need to be embellished.
Semantic fullness
All the characters in the paintings of Paulus Potter are endowed with psychologism. Animals vividly illustrate the characters of people, and the habits of animals become noticeable in people. So, for example, in the painting "Figures with horses at the stable" in the eyes of each character there is a certain mood - curiosity, boredom.
Another striking example of such subtle psychologization is Paulus Potter's painting "Chained Dog". The work shows us an ordinary dog near the booth, it would seem that there should be nothing special in this topic. However, the work is filled with a mass of valuable details that make it significant in the history of world art. So, only by the dog's coat - sometimes rough, sometimes soft, one can understand that the picture depicts spring, since it is during this period that the dog begins to molt. It is amazing how accurate and believable the picture is written. Also draws attention to itself and the angle from which the hero of the work is depicted - the dog in size almost resembles a large horse. Many critics attribute this to an attempt to increase the value of the dog in the painting.
But the most important thing here is a look full of hopelessness and disappointment. With what anguish the chained dog looks at the distant and unattainable freedom. How many people could recognize themselves in the image of the animal depicted here.
Most extraordinary work
One of the most famous and most unusual paintings by Paulus Potter is The Hunter's Punishment. The canvas consists of fourteen fragments, each of which is part of the plot.
The main theme is retribution. Nature punishes the hunter who so mercilessly killed her for many years. Twelve side fragments depict the life of a hunter, that is, the cause, and two central fragments depict the effect.
On the right, we can see a cheetah that was lured into a cage, a wolf killed by a horn, a buffalo hunted by dogs. On the left - monkeys caught with glue, an elephant that dogs are trying to tear to pieces, a mountain goat that is about to be shot.
In the upper right corner is a painting depicting the goddess Diana and her nymphs. It was she who turned the insatiable hunter into an animal that was torn to pieces by his own dogs. In the opposite corner, St. Hubert is a hunter who voluntarily abandoned a cruel hunt when he saw a deer with a cross in its horns.
And in the center of the picture, nature takes revenge on its tormentor - the dog is hung on a tree, and a fire has already been prepared for the hunter.
Such deep psychologism in the works of Paulus Potter attracted the attention of many of his contemporaries and opened a new wave of interest in animalism.
Some of the master's works are now in the State Hermitage of St. Petersburg.
Potter's painting "Hunter's Punishment" in the HermitageLuigi Premazzi. Types of halls of the New Hermitage. Tent hall
In the Tent Hall of the Hermitage, where a collection of paintings by the Lesser Dutchmen (17th century) is displayed, in a separate box in the central part of the hall there is a painting by Paulus Potter (1625-1654), The Punishment of the Hunter, unique even for the Hermitage. Written around 1647, small in size, 84.5x120 cm (wood, oil), it invariably attracts the attention of all visitors.
The painting arrived at the Hermitage in 1814, Alexander I bought it, along with others, from the heirs of Josephine de Beauharnais, Napoleon's first wife, in the castle of Malmaison.
But the story of the picture is almost detective in nature. As part of other Potter paintings, it was in the collection of the Landgraves of Hesse-Kassel and hung in the Museum of Kassel. During the war, Napoleon removed a collection of paintings from the Kassel Museum. Part of this collection was found in the forest, and it was this part that Napoleon gave to Josephine, with whom she remained after the main collection returned to Kassel. After the purchase, Alexander I offered the landgrave of Kassel to buy it back, but he refused. Nevertheless, after the First World War, when signing the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, the Germans demanded that the paintings be returned to their museum. To the credit of the Hermitage, he refused to do so, so today the townspeople and guests of the city can see the picture here.
The uniqueness of the picture lies in the fact that on a small plate of wood there are 14 paintings (of which 12 are "brands"), united by a common plot - hunting for animals and its consequences. It was written with a touch of humor and has an allegorical meaning; in the two central paintings, the artist changed the roles of people and animals.
9 plots tell about the senseless persecution and killing of animals, three - about punishment and repentance, and two, the main ones, about judgment and punishment for what they have done.
So, let's start the inspection with images of hunting. Each tells about the torment and death of unfortunate animals pursued by hunters. Moreover, there is no equal combat in any story. 
Goat hunting. Hiding behind a large stone, the hunter shoots defenseless animals.
Hunting for a bear, which is trying to fight off the dogs that attacked him. The hunter kills the bear with a headshot.
Monkey hunting is no less insidious. Glue is poured into the dish and the boot, which will prevent the poor things from escaping. Hunters gloat over cover.
Boar hunting. The hunter finishes off the beast, surrounded and wounded by dogs.
Hunting for lions. And although the lion, protecting not only himself, but also the lioness, killed one of the hunters, his death is not far off.
Hunting for a buffalo, which is poisoned by dogs. The hunters will finish him off when he can no longer resist.
Wolf hunting. Hunters go to him with pitchforks, clubs, sabers. The outcome is predetermined.
Leopard hunting. A trap with a mirror was set on him, so that when he saw his own reflection, he took it for a stranger and rushed at him.
Hunting for marten. Nets were placed on the animal returning to the mink. There is no salvation.
In the upper row on the right, the plot of "Diana and Actaeon" was written not by Potter, but by Cornelis van Poelenburg, a master of mythological scenes, since. Potter couldn't draw female figures. 
Diana punished Actaeon by turning him into a deer for asserting his superiority in hunting her.
On the left side, another mythological scene is written - about St. Hubert. 
Hubert was such a passionate hunter that he did not follow any Christian rules. But one day a deer came out of the forest with a cross between its horns, and this shocked Hubert so much that he stopped hunting and became a pious man, a saint.
And between them in the upper central part is a hunter with a hare and dogs. 
The painting depicts Johann Moritz of Nassau-Siegen, Field Marshal of the United Provinces, nicknamed the "Brazilian". He was a politician, collector and hunter, but had no family. It is believed that this picture is a reproach to a person who does not live a normal life, but surrenders entirely to passions.
The central part of the picture is occupied by two main images - judgment and punishment (punishment). 
So, the hunter is brought to court. The head of the court is a lion with a scepter. The judge is an elephant, next to the fox is the prosecutor. Immediately advisers - a bull, a leopard, a boar and a goat. The hunter is led by a bear and two wolves, a reindeer escort walks behind. Then the bears lead the dogs to the court, at the end of the procession there is a buffalo. On a leash - a horse that will be judged later. All forest animals are happy, because now justice will be done. The whole process is written in full accordance with human judgment.
Well, then, after the verdict, execution. 
A hunter is roasted on a spit. The bears spin the spit, and the goat and the boar pour oil on its contents. An elephant and a monkey carry firewood to keep the fire going.
The gun is lying on the ground, and hunting equipment is hung on a tree. A wolf and a fox are hanging on a nearby tree. Two more dogs are led to the monkey's execution.
And next to it is a big holiday, animals are having fun: a bull, a goat and a chamois are dancing, and a bear is singing. The wolf joyfully rolls on the ground, the hare runs to the celebration, but the rabbit sadly leaves. At the same time, a lion and a leopard, noble persons, are sitting on a hillock, watching how simple subjects are celebrating.
Here is such a "humorous story" told by Paulus Potter in the picture.
Potter's picture is a moralizing to the rulers: the world can turn upside down due to lawlessness and bullying of people; people will rise up, even such submissive ones as beasts will rise up. This is how his contemporaries perceived the picture.
And Goethe wrote about her that this is a poem in painting and that it is difficult to imagine another picture that would give more pleasure and which is so long and vividly kept in memory.
Finally, I want to show my favorite Potter painting in a frame, the way it hangs in a museum. 
In a new entry, I would like to talk about one painting by a very remarkable, but not the most famous artist in our country. This is the Dutchman Paulus Potter and his painting "The Punishment of the Hunter", which is now stored in the Hermitage.
Despite the fact that Potter is much less known than his compatriots Hals, Vermeer, Sten and many others, this does not detract from his outstanding talent as an original animal painter of his time. and only yours? We know many artists who, to one degree or another, were fond of depicting animals: these are Rubens, Snyders, Jan Brueghel, Rousseau and Géricault, etc. But Potter's work differs from them primarily in the depth of a simple animal soul that the author lays in them. Potter lived a short life: only 28 years old, from 1625 to 1654, and became famous precisely because he skillfully painted animals. About a hundred of his paintings are dedicated to them. They are kept in many museums around the world: The Hague, Dresden, Berlin... The St. Petersburg Hermitage has a small but high-quality collection of his works. They were also originally located in Germany, then came under Napoleon to France and were bought by Alexander the First among the collection of Empress Josephine.
The painting was painted in 1647. Why does it immediately attract attention and why don’t you just pass it by? Well, of course, first of all, because it is divided into 14 plots and is a story about the difficult coexistence of animals and humans.
The central part of the picture is occupied by 2 plots. The first shows the court of animals: a lion - a judge and a king with a scepter in his paws, next to him is a leopard and an elephant, a fox. A person is escorted to them, this is done by a bear and wolves, who hold the ropes. Waiting for their turn is a message from a hunting man - dogs and a horse, you can see how afraid they are of their future.
On the lower half of the central part there is a scene of the massacre of animals over a person. It is roasted on a spit, and a boar sitting next to it pours oil or some kind of sauce on it, the dogs were simply hung up, one of the monkeys climbed a tree and checks how well the rope is tightened. The rest of the animals arranged a feast for the occasion. The scene, although it is violence, is nevertheless written with such humor that it is impossible not to smile looking at it.
On 8 elements of the picture there are scenes of human hunting for various animals: bear, monkeys, wild boar, lion, wolf, bull, leopard and marten. Moreover, those scenes that could not have taken place in Europe, for example, hunting for monkeys, were performed in a very original way - some kind of glue was slipped into the monkeys, because of which their paws stuck together with the body. And the leopard has a mirror so that he thinks that some kind of animal is nearby.
Above are 3 stories related to hunting: the first is about St. Hubert, the patron saint of hunters, and then on an antique story.
I would like to note that Potter has a lot of interesting paintings, this is the Farm, and the Young Bull, and the Horses in the Meadow. They can be viewed for a very long time. But I have a special interest in the picture The Punishment of the Hunter, not only because it is a whole story, but also because of the meaning inherent in it: animals will not endure for a long time, a person will be punished for his crimes, justice will prevail.
This picture attracted my attention not for its artistic merits, but for the unusual plot and the manner of constructing the composition. Somehow, she had never met me before. I think it will be interesting for you to look at her too. Most importantly, she has a deep meaning. She is a coherent narrative of the story of the hunter and his punishment
PAINTING.
This is a painting by the Dutchman Paulus (Petrovich) Potter from the collection of the St. Petersburg Hermitage.
It's called "Hunter's Punishment". This is a joke picture, a small comic.
Portrait of Paulus Potter by Bartholomeus van der Gelst
Paulus Potter(1625-1654) Dutch artist, representative of the golden age of Dutch painting. He died very young at the age of 29 from tuberculosis.
Now let's get back to the picture Punishment of the hunter. It is quite small in size - 85 by 120 cm.
Curious storyline!
The painting was painted in 1647. This picture is interesting in that in one canvas it is divided into 14 stories that consistently tell about the fate of the unfortunate hunter, who nevertheless got what he deserved.
12 plot stories on the sides tell about how and what a hunter lives, how he hunts animals, how he sets traps, how his dogs gnaw on driven animals. All side stories tell about the torment and death of forest animals that got in the way of the hunter. Two stories in the very center of the canvas tell how the animals, having combined their efforts, caught the hunter with his hunting dogs and staged a trial and execution.
The picture is divided into a number of small plot images, like icons with the lives of saints - when many events fit on one board. Along the edges are scenes of all kinds of hunting: horse, dog, with snares and with cages. Animal suffering is depicted everywhere!
ANALYSIS OF THE PICTURE IN DETAIL.
Let's start from the central picture at the top.
The central stories attract the viewer much more and this is not surprising, because here the animals are doing their lawful judgment on the man who has been killing them since time immemorial. Moreover, it must be said that this whole allegorical scene is distinguished by a rather cruel look at the punishment of the hunter. His dogs were hung on a tree, and the hunter himself was roasted on a spit.
It is believed that the successful hunter, who caught a hare almost his own height, is the customer of the painting.
The kneeling hunter is St. Hubert: seeing a cross between the antlers of a deer, he not only spared the beast, but also parted with the hunt.
Here we see the death of the goat. His fate is all the sadder because there is no chance - to defend himself, to run away, to hide.
The bear is hunted with a pack of dogs.
It is unlikely that the artist saw a similar way of catching monkeys, more like the tales of experienced travelers.
Glue is poured into the basin, curious monkeys will stick into it. Who tries on boots - not much happier. The boots are filled with glue. It won’t run far, it will only make the catcher laugh, trying to climb a tree in boots.
The boar cannot be saved. 
The lion does not just fight, but protects the lioness. 
Here again hunting with dogs. 
They go to the wolf with a horn.
The leopard is taken by deception. He will see his reflection in the mirror and enter the cage.
And this picture was drawn not by Potter himself, but by his colleague from the city of Utrecht, K. van Poolenburg, a specialist in the mythological genre.
Nature's patience has run out. The goddess Diana, aka Artemis, punished the hunter Actaeon by turning him into a deer, which was hunted down by his own dogs. In the picture, Diana is her nymph companions.
These two pictures are placed in the center, as they are the main conclusion of the picture.Here two scenes depicting the imaginary revenge of animals on their oppressors: the dogs were hung on a branch, and the hunter himself, after a trial presided over by a lion-judge and with the participation of an elephant-prosecutor, was roasted on a spit.
Animals dance for joy. And the goat stirs the coals under the spit, which is twisted
two bears. Who is tied to the spit is not visible, but you can guess.
Very interesting video.
The picture is very surprising, even for the golden age of Dutch painting, when mythological allegory, themes of sin and punishment were in vogue. The great canvas of Paulus Potter says that the world will not forgive a person who kills living beings for fun.
The picture has black humor and hidden symbolism. We can say that this is a kind of "caricature" for life, which the painter saw around him. Under the punishment of the hunter it is not at all necessary to literally understand the punishment of the one who hunts animals in the forest. A person who plots against people, deceives, steals, leads by the nose, causes suffering, etc., will be subject to the same torments of a hunter, since the world, in spite of everything, is incredibly fair!
Sources.
