Lion Hunt

Painted by Sir Peter Paul Rubens (Seigen 1577 - Antwerp 1640) Now in the collections of the Bayerische Staatsgemaldesammlungen, Alte Pinakothek Munich.

A sketch of a Lion Hunt by Peter Paul Rubens can be dated quite accurately to the early 1620s. Rubens in his correspondence of the time mentions the execution of three hunting scenes. One of these is a large Lion Hunt described by Rubens as "as large as life", commissioned in March 1621 by Lord Digby during his visit to the Southern Netherlands in March 1621 intended as a gift for the Marquis of Hamilton. This was described by Rubens as being one of his best compositions, executed to the highest quality.

There is a possibility that a version of the Lion Hunt now in a private collection which belonged to the Hon Revd. Frederick Hamilton, sold in 1847, is the version of the Lion Hunt referred to in the inventory M4/3 of 1625. This however is a studio replica painted before 1618, not the version so boasted of by Rubens.

The Munich Lion Hunt may have been sold to the Duke of Buckingham in the 1630s. It appears on the inventory published about the time of the death of James, 2nd Marquis of Hamilton in March 1625 (M/4/3). It is possible that this inventory or list of paintings was a selection list, or part of a sale or legacy following the death of the 2nd Marquis. The painting is found on a Buckingham inventory of 1635 confirming this theory.

The painting is listed in the following inventory:
Hamilton Inventory M4/3/ 9