FLEMISH SCHOOL. oooooooo RUBENS. oooooooo MUNICH GALLERY. LION-HUNT, If the chase is now a diversion, it originated in one of the wants of man, at first to supply him with food, and next for destroying the ferocious animals dangerous to his repose and safety. His intelligence and address render him so superior to all animals, that he succeeds in vanquishing them, but not without danger, and the chase of the lion presents the most peril, on account of the extraordinary strength and dreadful means of this mighty monarch of the woods, who by his roar alone spreads terror far and wide. However terrible this animal may be, says Buffon, they do not hesitate to hunt him with tall dogs well supported by men on horseback; they start him, they pursue him, but it is essential to have the dogs and even the horses trained beforehand, as almost every other animal trembles and flies at the scent only of the lion. D Rubens, in his picture, ably delineates the dexterity and courage of the hunters, as well as the strength and resistance of their prey. The lion's ordinary gait is known to be haughty and grave; here it would appear that his movements when running are no longer equal, but that he darts by leaps and bounds of twelve or fifteen feet. In this hunt the lion has succeeded in seizing and pulling from his horse a man whom he is tearing to pieces; but he himself, already pierced with the hunters' spears, seems on the point of being forced to quit his victim, though probably too late, as the manner in which the unfortunate hunter is attacked appears to render his death inevitable. This picture has been engraved by Schelte de Bolswert. |