Gobelins Tapestry: Boar Hunt
Author: Unknown
Origin: France
Dating: 18th century
Material: Wool & Silk
Dimensions (cm): 489 x 173
Inv. no.: PD0203
This scene unfolds in a verdant landscape with trees, with houses in the background and a statue on the left. On the right, hunters – one on horseback – pursue a wild boar, pushing it towards two other armed figures who await the animal.
In the Middle Ages, hunting was seen as a true training ground for war. It was type of military training, developed through the pursuit and capture of medium or large wild animals.
Hunting was understood as a symbol of royal vigor, vitality and ostentation – in which prowess was quantified by the number of animals killed.
Hunts were also occasions for social gatherings and conviviality, to which close friends and family were invited, fostering business and even marriages.
The interest in hunting among medieval monarchs was so evident that King João I – the father of Afonso, the 1st Duke of Braganza – wrote a treatise on hunting entitled Livro da Montaria (Book of the Hunt), in which the King aims to instruct the nobility and where he considers “big game hunting” the most important of arts.
Throughout history, this activity is frequently depicted in works of art that adorned the great manor houses.
