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Peter Paul Rubens, The Wolf and Fox Hunt, circa. 1615–21

Have you heard the saying "the whole is more than the sum of its parts?" When Artsology encountered this monumental painting at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, we found ourselves thinking the opposite, that maybe the various parts of this painting do a pretty good job of standing on their own as great and interesting pictures. When broken down into parts, one can really focus on the action of this hunt, the vicious battle and violence taking place in this big scene. It's also interesting to see these various parts separately and then see if one can imagine how to put the pieces together to imagine the full picture before actually seeing the full picture. Scoll down and come along for the ride of Rubens' Wolf and Fox Hunt!    

Before we see the full painting, we'll give you a little more background on this painting. Technically, it has been attributed to "Peter Paul Rubens and Workshop," because while Rubens is considered the main artist, he had a group of assistants in his studio who helped him with the painting. It's hard to know what exactly Rubens painted and what the assistants painted, although it is known that the landscape was painted after all of the people and animals were completed. Another interesting side note is that the painting does not represent actual hunting techniques, as wolves and foxes are never hunted at the same time, nor would one expect to find wolves and foxes together so that they could be hunted in the exact same location. It would seem, then, that Rubens is simply aiming for a large, complicated, action-packed scene, rather than a depiction of an actual event. Okay, enough of the analysis ... here's the full painting:

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