The hunting of the Calydonian wild boar. Etching after Sir P.P. Rubens.

Described as follows by Balis, op. cit. p. 91 (left and right have here been reversed to take account of the reversal of the etching): Meleager, on the right, thrusts his spear into the shoulder of the boar at bay; two horsemen on the left also aim their spears at it. Atalanta, standing behind Meleager, has just shot an arrow. Six men, most of them only partly visible, form a screen behind Atalanta and Meleager; the man on the far right holds a dog in check; two other hounds rush at the boar, a fifth is mortally injured. In the centre the naked Ancaeus lies dead on the ground

In this scene Rubens followed Ovid's account [Metamorphoses, VIII, 270-419]. The poet relates how Diana, angered by the failure of King Oeneus of Calydon to offer sacrifice to her, sent a huge boar to ravage the land. Oeneus's son Meleager organized a great hunt in which many Greek heroes took part including the Dioscuri, Castor and Pollux (seen in this painting as the two horsemen on the left). The virgin huntress Atalanta first succeeded in wounding the beast, with an arrow behind the ear. Ancaeus, who dared to challenge Diana to protect the boar, paid for his presumption with his life, as the beast ripped out his entrails. He thus died in the same manner as Adonis, and Rubens portrayed the latter's death similarly. Finally Meleager slew the monster with his hunting-spear (Balis, loc. cit.)

Antverpiae [Antwerp] : Cor. van Merlen excudit cum privilegio, [between 1600 and 1699]

1 print : etching, with engraving ; platemark 44.2 x 59.1 cm

P. Paulus Rubens pinxit.

Arnout Balis, Corpus Rubenianum Ludwig Burchard, part XVIII, Landscapes and hunting scenes; II: Hunting scenes, London 1986, pp. 91-95, no. 1, copy no. 5 (p. 91)

Wellcome Collection 3055864i

Traditionally attributed to Theodoor van Kessel, but his involvement is doubted by Balis, loc. cit.

After a painting by Rubens in the opposite direction, the whereabouts of which is unknown (Balis, loc. cit.)