The Rabbit Hunters

The Rabbit Hunters, created in 1560, is an important example of collaboration between designer Pieter Bruegel the Elder and printmaker/publisher Hieronymus Cock. This significant work, executed as an etching on laid paper, showcases the sophisticated print culture that defined the Netherlandish art scene during the period spanning 1551 to 1600. Bruegel frequently supplied designs for Cock’s Antwerp publishing house, Aux Quatre Vents (“At the Four Winds”), which played a pivotal role in disseminating complex imagery across Europe, solidifying the fame of both artists. The meticulous line work typical of etchings allowed for a high degree of detailed observation of the natural world, a hallmark of Northern European Renaissance art.

The work depicts several figures engaged in the pursuit of small game, framed within a characteristic Bruegelian panoramic landscape. Cock skillfully translated Bruegel’s intricate design, capturing the wide scope and deep perspective that draws the viewer into the scene, with the landscape dominating the activity of the figures. Unlike idealized Italian Renaissance compositions, this Netherlandish approach grounded its narratives in quotidian life and detailed observations of nature, often integrating subtle social commentary. While focusing on the seemingly simple activity implied by the title, The Rabbit Hunters is executed with high compositional complexity, integrating figures, trees, and distant topographical features seamlessly across the plate.

This print contributes greatly to our understanding of sixteenth-century Northern Renaissance draftsmanship and the burgeoning commercial market for specialized prints. The accessibility afforded by prints meant that such works, often depicting popular genre scenes or elaborate landscapes, reached a much wider audience than unique paintings ever could. The original etching resides in the collection of the National Gallery of Art, forming a crucial piece of sixteenth-century works on paper. As an early and influential example of landscape prints, high-resolution copies of this masterwork are frequently made available through public domain initiatives, ensuring its continuous study by scholars globally.