Hunting with a decoy
1775 Museo del Prado
About this artwork
This oil on canvas painting depicts a hunting scene involving a decoy owl to attract smaller birds into a net. It was created as part of a series of tapestry cartoons commissioned for the royal dining room at the El Pardo Palace.
Did you know?
This painting was part of Goya's first series of tapestry cartoons, designed to decorate the dining room of the Prince of Asturias at the El Pardo Palace. The use of a tethered owl as a decoy for hunting songbirds was a common, if controversial, practice in 18th-century Spain, reflecting the era's fascination with genre scenes of rural life.
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Hunting with a decoy
Francisco Goya, 1775
