Hippopotamus and Crocodile Hunt Peter Paul Rubens (1577-1640)

Description of Peter Rubens’ painting The Hippopotamus Hunt

The painting was painted in 1616.

The hippo is depicted much smaller than in reality. But when viewed as a whole, the appearance of the animal is faithfully conveyed. From the mouth of the hippopotamus protruding fangs.

Rubens created a whole series of paintings on the theme of hunting. The viewer pays tribute to the painter’s skill, but at the same time feels some implausibility of what is happening. We are looking at two animals being hunted at the same time, a crocodile and a hippopotamus. On the one hand, these animals both live in the water, but it is rather difficult to assume that people would hunt two such animals at once. Three men in turbans, presumably Arabs, try to stick their spears into the hippo. The dogs also pounce on it. One of the hunters is already defeated. We see no blood, but for him the hunt is already over. The dog is clawing at the crocodile’s tail, and the unjuvenile hunter with knife in hand is about to strike this reptile.

Rubens is the founder of an entirely new style of painting, the Baroque. It is incredibly vivid and as exciting as possible. The artist’s style is incredibly vivid and necessarily opulent. He depicted all figures in motion. Shadow and light are sharply contrasted. This canvas of the artist is no exception. The viewer sees the painter’s distinctive manner that shines through in every detail.

Before Rubens, animals and people were not depicted in violent fights. The artist was carried far beyond historical reality. He has animals and people fighting, and the fight occurs completely spontaneously. All the hunting scenes are incredibly tense. We feel how intense the passions of the raging on the canvas.

Rubens creates a variety of forms, the combination and fusion of which is intended to enhance all the drama that is playing out before our eyes. The viewer’s attention is deliberately shifted not to life, as it might seem at first glance, but to the death of the animals depicted in the painting.