Title

Lion Attacked by Dogs

Author

Vos, Paul de [attributed to]

Hulst, ca 1590 - Antwerp, 1678

Typology

School

Century

Dimensions

Technique

Support

Observations

Paul de Vos' Lion attacked by dogs, preserved in Madrid’s Colección Santamarca, depicts a gripping hunting scene. In it, a lion is shown in full flight, harassed by six fierce mastiffs. One of the dogs has sunk its teeth into the beast’s back, while two others are poised to leap on it from the right side of the scene. Two more dogs, severely wounded, lie on the ground howling. This is a typical hunting scene, in which no artist surpasses the Flemish masters in this genre. They gained autonomy in the seventeenth century, during the age of Rubens, whose influence is visible here in the dramatic composition and the tension that fills the scene. Indeed, Rubens’ hunting paintings, often created in collaboration with Frans Snyders or Paul de Vos, defined the Baroque aesthetic of this type of depiction.

This large-format painting was previously classified as an anonymous work of the Flemish school in the Santamarca Foundation’s collection. It was underappreciated, as indicated by its valuation. However, after a thorough study the work has been attributed to Paul de Vos, an artist renowned for his dynamic hunting scenes. This attribution is supported by the refined execution of the painting and its harmonious coloring, elements that set it apart from the more rigid and expressive style of Snyders, who often rendered his animals’ features in a more exaggerated manner.

In this composition, the lion occupies the center of action, with no hunters present to distract the viewer’s attention, thus highlighting the animals as the focal point against a lightly sketched landscape under a luminous sky dotted with gray clouds. Unlike other Lion Hunt paintings, such as the one held at the Museo del Prado (inv. 1760), created with Jan Wildens and featuring a more elaborate landscape, Paul de Vos here uses large-leafed shrubs placed in the corners of the canvas.

The Santamarca painting shows striking similarities to the Lion Hunt at the Prado. In both works, the lion, feeling cornered, turns back with a fierce expression toward the dogs that pursue it, a posture reminiscent of Rubens’ drawings. Paul de Vos captures the movement and dramatic tension of the scene with such precision that few modern artists could match this capture of an instant. The influence of Rubens is undeniable, not only in the diagonal composition but also in the dynamism of the animals, while the models for the dogs resemble those that Frans Snyders and Paul de Vos reused in other hunting scenes.

In Spain, other works by Paul de Vos depict the same subject, often confused with those of Snyders, as illustrated by the Prado painting, initially attributed to Snyders before being reassigned to Paul de Vos in the 1970s. Furthermore, the Lion attacked by dogs in the Colección Santamarca seems to correspond to a work on the same subject from the collection of the Marquis of Salamanca, considered lost but listed in a Parisian sale catalogue from the nineteenth century, with dimensions and a description matching the painting under study here.

The attribution to Paul de Vos adds notable prestige to the Santamarca Foundation’s work. The noble origin of the collection and the quality of the painting, in which the animals' features are delicately modeled and the colors finely harmonized, confirm its importance in Spanish artistic heritage, particularly in the study of seventeenth-century Flemish hunting paintings.

Related links

Bibliography

• M. Díaz Padrón (2018): "Una cacería de León de Paul de Vos en la Fundación Santamarca", Tendencias del mercado del arte, vol. 111, pp. 92-93.
• W. Rincón García, e.a. (2017): Colección Santamarca : Esplendor barroco de Luca Giordano a Goya y la pintura romántica, Diputación Provincial de Zaragoza, Zaragoza, pp. 248-249, il. cat. 93.

Locations

• Colección Santamarca, Madrid (Spain) (Inventory number: 184)