Hunting Equipment circa 1562 Italy

[Guest Lester Weevils]

The other day ran across a renaissance painter that did some neat pictures, was looking online for examples. Paulo Veronese.

 

He did a self-portrait of himself decked out for hunting. A mastiff and what might be a greyhound but not drastically different than some modern long-legged hunting hounds. No gun that I see but he has a powder horn, unless the horn is intended to be some kind of canteen? Or a hunting horn to blow into? Sword and some kind of pig-sticker, apparently. Maybe the clothing is more rugged for underbrush and thorns than it looks, dunno. Otherwise, about the only place to wear that get-up nowadays might be hunting somewhere in vicinity of San Francisco? :)

 

url-- http://www.1st-art-gallery.com/thumbnail/185961/1/Self-Portrait-In-Hunting-Costume,-1562.jpg

 

[peejman]

Could be a powder horn, they had match-lock guns then.  But I'd bet that in that day, the dogs did most of the work and the person only came in to finish the critter off. 

[DaveS]

He's most likely a fox and/or hare hunter. The lance was used to harvest game once the dogs, which appear to be fox hounds maybe even used for bear or boar was brought to submission, said hunter would kill the animal with his lance. Further study of the picture leads me to believe (look carfully at mouth piece on horn) that the horn was blown into during hunts maybe to call in the dogs. Near the horn are some loops/nooses for hanging small game animals and birds for easy carry. I find the picture quite interesting. Thanks for sharing.

 

Dave S

[ShaunM]

Those nooses do look like they would carry small animals.

[Guest Lester Weevils]

Thanks Peejman, DaveS, and ShaunM for the good ideas.

 

Was wondering if the nooses were some kind of snare, but dunno nothin about snares. Carry small animals a much better explanation.

 

Had guessed greyhound because one of Veronese' other paintings was a formal portrait of a teen nobleman dressed in finery, with a greyhound by his side that looked a lot like modern greyhounds. But the hunting dog in the foreground of the self-portrait might be heavier-built than a greyhound. He's got those big dinosaur feet of foxhounds and some related coonhound breeds. Looks like a fine old dawg. Maybe the dog in the background is the same breed, dunno. Maybe the fat face is only a trick of perspective. The fat face was what had me thinking mastiff. That background dog has some ears that a modern bluetick or bloodhound would be proud of. :)

 

The foreground dog is pretty big, but that might be perspective as well. Have heard that people back then were typically a good head shorter than their modern descendents, so the dog wouldn't look so big beside a bigger man. Long ago explored an old spanish fort, I think st petersburg florida but maybe somewhere else. The stone cutouts for beds were too short for modern people to fit on, and most of the interior rooms had such low ceilings you had to stoop to go inside them.

[peejman]

Those nooses do look like they would carry small animals.

 

 

They do indeed.  I didn't notice them until mentioned. 

[DaveS]

Those nooses/loops are still available and in use today. They are mostly used by duck and small game hunters. Insert the bird's or animal's foot into the loop, tighten it down and your good to go! Can carry them around all day like that.

 

Dave S

[ShaunM]

I use something similar to carry my downed fur out of the woods.

[Guest Lester Weevils]

There are many paintings of "the hunt" in the hundreds of years since the 16th century, Europe and USA as well. Was googling a bunch of them a couple years ago but didn't save links. Not hard to find. The pack hounds are similar to modern breeds, but typically painted "skin and bone and muscle" exposed ribs and powerful muscles.

 

Another thing in the old paintings, a lot of the hounds are bi-color, black'n'white or brown'n'white, wheras lots of modern versions are tri color, brown, black, and white.

 

There are some "more modern" old pictures that are interesting. For instance a couple of collections of "best" Field and Stream cover art. You advance thru the picture gallery by clicking on each picture. The mag covers are most likely more than a little fanciful in many cases, but its interesting the preponderance of bi-color dogs even in the early 20th century, if the mag covers at all reflect reality of the time.

 

1899 to 1928--  http://www.fieldandstream.com/photos/gallery/kentucky/2006/06/field-stream-cover-gallery-43-hunting-classics-1899-1928

 

1929 to 1968-- http://www.fieldandstream.com/photos/gallery/kentucky/2006/06/classic-cover-gallery-ii-hunting-covers-1929-1968

 

Some favorites from the earlier set--