Ex antro catulos venator Tigridis - J. Stradanus 1596

📜 Description
Original etching by Johannes Stradanus (Jan van der Straet), published in Antwerp by Philippe Galle in 1596, from the series “Venationes Ferarum, Avium, Piscium”. The scene depicts a complex hunting episode with multiple subjects: hunters removing tiger cubs from a den while adult animals, shown in the foreground and background, react with tension among traps, nets, and capture devices. The composition is structured and narrative, with visual emphasis on the trapped tigers and the mechanisms of capture in the foreground, while the coordinated action of the hunters unfolds in a wooded and rocky landscape in the background. The Latin inscription along the lower margin, “Ex antro catulos venator Tigridis aufert, atque in decipulas & retia tensa, tenellos quae referant catulos…”, explains the episode: the hunter takes the cubs from the tiger’s den and uses decoys and nets to deceive and capture the adult animal, clarifying the didactic and descriptive purpose of the image within early modern hunting treatises. The work holds documentary and collectible value as a printed record of late 16th-century hunting practices.

📚 Historical note
Johannes Stradanus (1523–1605), a Flemish artist active mainly in Italy, is known for the “Venationes” series, a large corpus of hunting scenes engraved and published by Philippe Galle in Antwerp between 1578 and 1596. These prints, often translated onto copper by various engravers under Galle’s editorial direction, reflect Renaissance interest in the classification of hunting practices and in the dynamic representation of nature and animals, expressed through a precise and narrative visual language.

🧾 Technical sheet
Type: original etching
Author / Maker: Johannes Stradanus (Jan van der Straet)
Publisher / Printer: Philippe Galle, Antwerp
Place: Antwerp
Period: 1596
Material: paper
Technique: etching
Subject / Title: Ex antro catulos venator Tigridis aufert, atque in decipulas & retia tensa…
Dimensions: sheet 24 x 32.5 cm; plate 20 x 26.5 cm
Marks / signatures / inscriptions: Latin descriptive inscription in lower margin; number “9”

🔍 Condition Report
Professionally restored example, currently in very good overall condition; paper stable with age-related traces consistent with the period, blank verso.