3-035-735 - Heritage Art/Heritage Images

The Calydonian Boar Hunt, about 1611-1612. Additional Info: Wrapped in a flowing red cape, the warrior Meleager thrusts his spear into the shoulder of a massive boar. The ferocious creature - seemingly undaunted by a pair of hounds latched onto its bristled hide - has turned to confront head-on its human adversary. Meleager's blow will prove to be fatal to the boar, but the beast has proven itself as a fearsome foe. Beneath its imposing hooves lie the disemboweled carcass of a hound and the prostrate corpse of the hunter Ancaeus. The story of the Calydonian boar hunt was told and retold during antiquity - most famously in Ovid's Metamorphoses.