*Le Bat-l’Eau* by Jan Peter Verdussen

Jan Peeter Verdussen was the son of the battle-scene and landscape painter Pierre Verdussen (1662–1701). Trained in Antwerp, he travelled to Turin to decorate the battle gallery of the royal palace, then worked at the Sardinian court of Charles Emmanuel III (1744). He painted mainly landscapes and battle scenes, drawing inspiration at times from Snayers and van der Meulen, and at other times from Wouwerman. A member of the Marseille Academy (1759), Verdussen died in Avignon in 1763

The painting housed at the Château de Bouges belongs to the genre of the hunting scene, providing an opportunity to depict a refined society engaged in its leisure pursuits. A horseman rides a piebald grey horse and points in a direction to the horn-blower. The pack is followed, during the free run, by the mounted party. The pack is tasked with killing the animal, whilst the man remains a spectator, although he may occasionally intervene. The scene depicted here corresponds to the ‘bat-l’eau’, the moment when the dogs pursue the game that has taken refuge in a pond. The scene, strikingly cruel, is rendered expressively by the painter: the stag’s eyes are bulging, and the pack’s fury appears organised and relentless.

The dynamism of the entire canvas and the variety of poses serve to divert the viewer’s attention from this cruel scene. The peaceful landscape of ruined buildings and steep hills in the background also stands in stark contrast to the ‘bat-l’eau’ scene. The use of yellow and blue in the distant scenery, in the tradition of Northern painting, even lends an unreal quality to the scene.

It is left to the viewer to choose whether to fix their gaze on the foreground scene, or to let their eyes wander towards the peaceful spectacle of the ruins or the cheerful group portrait. Precise points of light scattered across the canvas draw the eye to the costumes of the horsemen, who appear indifferent to the scene, but also to the eyes brimming with rage of the hunting dogs

Since the^13th century, deer hunting had become a royal or princely pastime. Wild boar hunting was neglected in its favour, as clerics and monks elevated the stag to the status of aristocratic game. For the Church, which viewed hunting unfavourably, stag hunting was considered less barbaric than bear or wild boar hunting. Christianity even imbued deer hunting with strong Christ-like symbolism, insofar as it could lead the hunter to become a saint, as in the legend of the Roman general Eustace, a passionate hunter who, whilst out hunting, saw a crucifix appear between a stag’s antlers and converted to Christianity. Around the^15th century, the legend of Saint Hubert, patron saint of hunters, helped to reinforce the deer’s divine aura by drawing on Voragine’s account.

Medieval authors regarded the stag as a symbol of fertility and resurrection, thanks to its antlers which regrow. Embodying an image of baptism and an adversary of evil, it became a substitute for Christ in the same way as the lamb or the unicorn. In late medieval works on the art of hunting, the stag is an animal sacrificed according to precise rituals, drawn into parallel with the Passion of Christ.