Hunt in the Forest by Paolo Uccello
Interpretation and Linear Perspective of Early Renaissance Painting
MAIN A-Z INDEX

ART APPRECIATION
For analysis of paintings by
Renaissance artists
like Paolo Uccello, see
our educational articles:
Art Evaluation and
How to Appreciate Paintings.

Hunt in the Forest (1470)

"Hunt in the Forest" (1470) by Paolo Uccello.
One of the greatest paintings of the early Italian Renaissance.

Contents

• Description
• Analysis
• Use of Perspective
• Interpretation of Other Renaissance Paintings

Description

Name: "Hunt in the Forest"
Date: 1470
Artist: Paolo Uccello (1397-1475)
Medium: Tempera and oil on panel
Genre: Genre painting (or allegorical work)
Movement: Early Renaissance art
Location: Ashmolean Museum, Oxford

For analysis and explanation of other important pictures from the Renaissance, see: Famous Paintings Analyzed (1250-1800).

Analysis of Hunt in the Forest

Like its more famous sister painting - the Battle of San Romano (1438-55) - the Hunt in the Forest (also known simply as "The Hunt") illustrates Uccello's mastery of linear perspective, which he used to create a feeling of depth in his paintings. Here he uses it to evoke the excitement of the chase and to draw the viewer further into the darkness as the hunters, horses and hounds disappear into the trees. Indeed, it is one of the finest examples of the effective use of perspective in Early Renaissance painting. Uccello was also a master of stained glass art, requiring a feel for colour which is also evident from the decorative jewel-like quality of the painting. It is Uccello's last known work before his death in 1475, and is one of the most famous Renaissance paintings in the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, England.

NOTE: Unlike most Early Renaissance artists in Florence, Paolo Uccello worked in the Late Gothic tradition, and - despite the modernity of his attitude towards perspective - emphasized colour and decorative pageantry rather than the innovative blend of classical realism and naturalism being pioneered during the Renaissance in Florence. Moreover his most famous works are not religious paintings but secular compositions. As a result, he left no school of followers.

The origin of the work is as mysterious as its composition is beguiling. While some historians believe it to be a hunt conducted by the Italian nobleman Lorenzo de'Medici - see: Medici Family, Florence (1400-1500). If true, this makes it one of the world's earliest genre paintings, on a par with works by the Flemish school: see Flemish Painting (from 1400). However other scholars claim that it illustrates an unknown novella, and yet others see it as no more than an exercise in mathematical perspective. Given the intellectual climate of the Florentine Renaissance in particular and the Italian Renaissance in general - as well as the fact that the 'hunt' is (somewhat oddly) conducted during the hours of darkness - perhaps the most plausible interpretation is that the picture is an allegory of the search for love. This quest - symbolized by the chase of the hunt - may have been a suitably romantic theme chosen by Uccello for a wedding gift.

Use of Perspective

The basic principles of perspective as applied to fine art painting were first enunciated by the Italian architect and artist Leon Battista Alberti (1404-72) in his treatise Della Pittura (On Painting). In The Hunt, the four trees in the foreground not only expertly slice the panoramic view of the forest into three similar spaces, they also balance the scene and draw the eye in from both sides towards an undefined vanishing point. Above the horizon line, the trees get smaller and seem to recede into the distance, whereas everything that is below the horizon converges on a central vanishing point. Uccello also uses the huntsmen's spears, fallen tree trunks and patterned lines of foliage to point towards the vanishing point.

Uccello's feel for colour is indicated by his Renaissance colour palette, and his use of red and green colour pigments - as well as accents of gold, now faded - to give the painting a magical jewel-like quality. This is reinforced by the overall unreality of the scene and Uccello's affinity for Gothic art, as evidenced by his creation of stylized patterns: see, for instance, the similarities in the facial proportions; the vermilion colour of the dogs collars and the hunters' jackets; and the flowers and foliage on the forest floor. Note also the crescent moons on the horses' trappings; these symbolise Diana, the classical goddess of the hunt. But she is also the protector of chastity, and at least one horse is being pulled up by its rider. Although Venus the goddess of love is more commonly depicted in wedding gifts than Diana, these references to chastity may corroborate the idea that the Hunt in the Forest was a wedding present for some aristocratic couple.

Unlike most quattrocento artists in Florence, Paolo Uccello worked in the Late Gothic tradition, and emphasized colour and decorative pageantry rather than the innovative blend of classical realism and naturalism being pioneered by his contemporaries. Moreover his most famous works are not religious paintings but secular compositions. As a result, he left no school of followers.

Interpretation of Other Renaissance Paintings

For an analysis of other paintings of the Italian Renaissance, see the following articles:

• Brancacci Chapel frescoes (1424-8) Santa Maria del Carmine, Florence.
By Masaccio.

• Holy Trinity (1428) Santa Maria Novella, Florence.
By Masaccio.

• The Annunciation (c.1450) San Marco Museum, Florence.
By Fra Angelico.

• Flagellation of Christ (1450-60) Galleria Nazionale delle Marche, Urbino.
By Piero della Francesca.

• Lamentation over the Dead Christ (1470-80) Pinacoteca di Brera, Milan.
By Andrea Mantegna.

• La Primavera (1482-3) Uffizi, Florence.
By Sandro Botticelli.

• Birth of Venus (1484-6) Uffizi Gallery, Florence.
By Sandro Botticelli.

• For the meaning/interpretation of other Late Gothic-style paintings, see: Homepage.