''The Hunt in the Forest'' (also known as ''The Hunt by Night'' or simply ''The Hunt'') is a painting by the Italian artist

Paolo Uccello Paolo Uccello ( , ; 1397 – 10 December 1475), born Paolo di Dono, was an Italian (Florentine) painter and mathematician who was notable for his pioneering work on visual perspective in art. In his book ''Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, S ...

, made around 1470. It is perhaps the best-known painting in the

Ashmolean Museum The Ashmolean Museum of Art and Archaeology () on Beaumont Street, Oxford, England, is Britain's first public museum. Its first building was erected in 1678–1683 to house the cabinet of curiosities that Elias Ashmole gave to the University o ...

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

, England. The painting is an early example of the effective use of perspective in

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass ide ...

art, with the hunt participants, including people, horses, dogs and deer, disappearing into the dark forest in the distance. It was Uccello's last known painting before his death in 1475.

In popular culture

The painting is featured in the "Point of Vanishing" episode of the British TV series ''

Lewis Lewis may refer to: Names * Lewis (given name), including a list of people with the given name * Lewis (surname), including a list of people with the surname Music * Lewis (musician), Canadian singer * " Lewis (Mistreated)", a song by Radiohe ...

''. A postcard of the painting is discovered as a clue to a murder. Lewis and his colleague visit the painting at the

on more than one occasion and are instructed on its significant features by a museum expert. The painting provides Lewis with an insight that allows him to solve the case.

John Fowles John Robert Fowles (; 31 March 1926 – 5 November 2005) was an English novelist of international renown, critically positioned between modernism and postmodernism. His work was influenced by Jean-Paul Sartre and Albert Camus, among others. Aft ...

mentions the painting twice, in ''

The Ebony Tower ''The Ebony Tower'' (1974) by John Fowles is a collection of five novellas and short stories with interlacing themes, each built around a medieval myth: ''The Ebony Tower,'' ''Eliduc'', ''Poor Koko'', ''The Enigma'' and ''The Cloud''. Plot s ...

'' and ''

The Collector ''The Collector'' is a 1963 thriller novel by English author John Fowles, in his literary debut. Its plot follows a lonely, psychotic young man who kidnaps a female art student in London and holds her captive in the cellar of his rural farmhous ...

'': "...the design hits you the moment you see it. Apart from all the other technical things. You know it's faultless."

References

External links

Entry
in the

Web Gallery of Art The Web Gallery of Art (WGA) is a virtual art gallery website. It displays historic European visual art, mainly from the Baroque, Gothic and Renaissance periods, available for educational and personal use. Overview The website contains reproduct ...

Painting and poem
1470s paintings Paintings by Paolo Uccello Paintings in the collection of the Ashmolean Museum Horses in art Deer in art Dogs in art Hunting in art {{15C-painting-stub