Rabbits and Hares in Art - Rabbit and the Elephant - Sacrifice

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Rabbits and Hares in Art

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Rabbits and hares are common motifs in the visual arts, with variable mythological and artistic meanings in different cultures. The rabbit as well as the hare have been associated with moon deities and may signify rebirth or resurrection. They may also be symbols of fertility or sensuality, and they appear in depictions of hunting and spring scenes in the Labours of the Months. Humans have depicted rabbits and hares for thousands of years. Rabbit-like creatures feature in 7,500-year-old rock paintings found in Baja California; they are also prevalent in ancient Egyptian paintings and are often found on Grecian urns. Many Prints, Drawings and Painting Collections contains an array of images of rabbits and hares covering many of these creatures’ natural personality traits and representing much of the symbolism that these traits have inspired throughout the history of art. Rabbits have paradoxically been used as both symbols of sexuality and virginal purity. They have been a sex symbol since antiquity. In ancient Rome rabbits were frequently depicted as the animal of Venus. Conversely the rabbit was used by artists of the Middle Ages and Renaissance as a symbol of sexual purity and was often depicted alongside the Madonna and Child. Antiquity In antiquity, the hare, because it was prized as a hunting quarry, was seen as the epitome of the hunted creature that could survive only by prolific breeding. Herodotus, Aristotle, Pliny and Claudius Aelianus all described the rabbit as one of the most fertile of animals. It thus became a symbol of vitality, sexual desire and fertility. The hare served as an attribute of Aphrodite and as a gift between lovers. In late antiquity it was used as a symbol of good luck and in connection with ancient burial traditions. Judaism In Judaism, the rabbit is considered an unclean animal, because "though it chews the cud, does not have a divided hoof." This led to derogatory statements in the Christian art of the Middle Ages, and to an ambiguous interpretation of the rabbit's symbolism. The "shafan" in Hebrew has symbolic meaning. Although rabbits were a non-kosher animal in the Bible, positive symbolic connotations were sometimes noted, as for lions and eagles. 16th century German scholar Rabbi Yosef Hayim Yerushalmi, saw the rabbits as a symbol of the Diaspora. In any case, a three hares motif was a prominent part of many Synagogues. Christian art In Early Christian art, hares appeared on reliefs, epitaphs, icons and oil lamps although their significance is not always clear. The Physiologus, an inexhaustible resource for medieval artists, states that when in danger the rabbit seeks safety by climbing high up rocky cliffs, but when running back down, because of its short front legs, it is quickly caught by its predators. Likewise, according to the teaching of St. Basil, men should seek his salvation in the rock of Christ, rather than descending to seek worldly things and falling into the hands of the devil. The negative view of the rabbit as an unclean animal, which derived from the Old Testament, always remained present for medieval artists and their patrons. Thus the rabbit can have a negative connotation of unbridled sexuality and lust or a positive meaning as a symbol of the steep path to salvation. Whether a representation of a hare in Medieval art represents man falling to his doom or striving for his eternal salvation is therefore open to interpretation, depending on context. The three hares at Paderborn Cathedral The Hasenfenster (hare windows) in Paderborn Cathedral and in the Muotathal Monastery in Switzerland, in which three hares are depicted with only three ears between them, forming a triangle, can be seen as a symbol of the Trinity, and probably go back to an old symbol for the passage of time. The three hares shown in Albrecht Dürer's woodcut, The Holy Family with the Three Hares (1497), can also be seen as a symbol of the Trinity. The idea of rabbits as a symbol of vitality, rebirth and resurrection derives from antiquity. This explains their role in connection with Easter, the resurrection of Christ. The unusual presentation in Christian iconography of a Madonna with the Infant Jesus playing with a white rabbit in Titian's Parisian painting, can thus be interpreted christologically. Together with the basket of bread and wine, a symbol of the sacrificial death of Christ, the picture may be interpreted as the resurrection of Christ after death. The phenomenon of superfetation, where embryos from different menstrual cycles are present in the uterus, results in hares and rabbits being able to give birth seemingly without having been impregnated, which caused them to be seen as symbols of virginity. Rabbits also live underground, an echo of the tomb of Christ. As a symbol of fertility, white rabbits appear on a wing of the high altar in Freiburg Minster. They are playing at the feet of two pregnant women, Mary and Elizabeth. Martin Schongauer's engraving Jesus after the Temptation (1470) shows nine (three times three) rabbits at the feet of Jesus Christ, which can be seen as a sign of extreme vitality. In contrast, the tiny squashed rabbits at the base of the columns in Jan van Eyck's Rolin Madonna symbolize "Lust", as part of a set of references in the painting to all the Seven Deadly Sins. Hunting scenes in the sacred context can be understood as the pursuit of good through evil. In the Romanesque sculpture (c. 1135) in the Königslutter imperial Cathedral, a hare pursued by a hunter symbolises the human soul seeking to escape persecution by the devil. Another painting, Hares Catch the Hunters, shows the triumph of good over evil. Alternatively, when an eagle pursues the hare, the eagle can be seen as symbolizing Christ and the hare, uncleanliness and the evil's terror in the face of the light. In Christian iconography, the hare is an attribute of Saint Martin of Tours and Saint Alberto di Siena, because legend has it that both protected hares from persecution by dogs and hunters. They are also an attribute of the patron saint of Spanish hunters, Olegarius of Barcelona. White hares and rabbits were sometimes the symbols of chastity and purity. In secular art In non-religious art of the modern era, the rabbit appears in the same context as in antiquity: as prey for the hunter, or representing spring or autumn, as well as an attribute of Venus and a symbol of physical love. In cycles of the Labours of the Months, rabbits frequently appear in the spring months. In Francesco del Cossa's painting of April in the Palazzo Schifanoia in Ferrara, Italy, Venus' children, surrounded by a flock of white rabbits, symbolize love and fertility. In Italian Renaissance and Baroque art, rabbits are depicted more often than hares. In an allegory on lust by Pisanello, a naked woman lies on a couch with a rabbit at her feet. Pinturicchio's scene of Susanna in the Bath is displayed in the Vatican's Borgia Apartment. Here, each of the two old men are accompanied by a pair of hares or rabbits, clearly indicating wanton lust. In Piero di Cosimo's painting of Venus and Mars, a cupid resting on Venus clings to a white rabbit for similar reasons. Still lifes in Dutch Golden Age painting and their Flemish equivalents often included a moralizing element which was understood by their original viewers without assistance: fish and meat can allude to religious dietary precepts, fish indicating fasting while great piles of meat indicate voluptas carnis (lusts of the flesh), especially if lovers are also depicted. Rabbits and birds, perhaps in the company of carrots and other phallic symbols, were easily understood by contemporary viewers in the same sense. As small animals with fur, hares and rabbits allowed the artist to showcase his ability in painting this difficult material. Dead hares appear in the works of the earliest painter of still life collections of foodstuffs in a kitchen setting, Frans Snyders, and remain a common feature, very often sprawling hung up by a rear leg, in the works of Jan Fyt, Adriaen van Utrecht and many other specialists in the genre. By the end of the 17th century, the grander subgenre of the hunting trophy still life appeared, now set outdoors, as though at the back door of a palace or hunting lodge. Hares (but rarely rabbits) continued to feature in the works of the Dutch and Flemish originators of the genre, and later French painters like Jean-Baptiste Oudry. From the Middle Ages until modern times, the right to hunt was a vigorously defended privilege of the ruling classes. Hunting Still lifes, often in combination with hunting equipment, adorn the rooms of baroque palaces, indicating the rank and prestige of their owners. Jan Weenix' painting shows a still life reminiscent of a trophy case with birds and small game, fine fruits, a pet dog and a pet monkey, arranged in front of a classicising garden sculpture with the figure of Hercules and an opulent palace in the background. The wealth and luxurious lifestyle of the patron or owner is clearly shown. The children's tales of the English author Beatrix Potter, illustrated by herself, include several titles featuring the badly behaved Peter Rabbit and other rabbit characters, including her first and most successful book The Tale of Peter Rabbit (1902), followed by The Tale of Benjamin Bunny (1904), and The Tale of The Flopsy Bunnies (1909). Potter's anthropomorphic clothed rabbits are probably the most familiar artistic rabbits in the English-speaking world, no doubt influenced by illustrations by John Tenniel of the White Rabbit in Lewis Carroll's book Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. Joseph Beuys, who always finds a place for a rabbit in his works, sees it as symbolizing resurrection. In the context of his action "How to Explain Pictures to a Dead Hare", he stated that the rabbit "...has a direct relationship to birth... For me, the rabbit is the symbol of incarnation. Because the rabbit shows in reality what man can only show in his thoughts. He buries himself, he buries himself in a depression. He incarnates himself in the earth, and that alone is important." Masquerade (book) (1979), written and illustrated by the artist Kit Williams, is ostensibly a children’s book, but contains elaborate clues to the location of a jewelled golden hare, also made by Williams, which he had buried at the location in England to which the clues in the book led. The hare was not found until 1982, in what later emerged as dubious circumstances. The Welsh sculptor Barry Flanagan (1944-2009) was best known for his energetic bronzes of hares, which he produced throughout his career. Many have a comic element, and the length and thinness of the hare's body is often exaggerated.

Dürer's Young Hare

Young Hare by Albrecht Dürer (1502) Probably one of the most famous depictions of an animal in the history of European art is the painting Young Hare by Albrecht Dürer, completed in 1502 and now preserved in the Albertina in Vienna. Dürer's watercolor is seen in the context of his other nature studies, such as his almost equally famous Meadow or his Bird Wings. He chose to paint these in watercolor or gouache, striving for the highest possible precision and "realistic" representation. The hare pictured by Dürer probably does not have a symbolic meaning, but it does have an exceptional reception history. Reproductions of Dürer's Hare have often been a permanent component of bourgeois living rooms in Germany. The image has been printed in textbooks; published in countless reproductions; embossed in copper, wood or stone; represented three-dimensionally in plastic or plaster; encased in plexiglas; painted on ostrich eggs; printed on plastic bags; surreally distorted in Hasengiraffe ("Haregiraffe") by Martin Missfeldt; reproduced as a joke by Fluxus artists; and cast in gold; or sold cheaply in galleries and at art fairs. Young Hare by Albrecht Dürer Completed in 1502, Young Hare was painted in water colour and gouache by German artist Albrecht Dürer who was not only a painter, but also an engraver, print-maker, a theorist and a mathematician. It has been suggested that the accuracy was the result of either the artist keeping a wild hare in his workshop or he initially sketched wild hares and used a dead specimen to add the details of the fur which points in many directions. http://totallyhistory.com/young-hare/ Since early 2000, Ottmar Hörl has created several works based on Dürer's Hare, including a giant pink version. Sigmar Polke has also engaged with the hare on paper or textiles, or as part of his installations, and even in rubber band form. Dieter Roth's Köttelkarnikel ("Turd Bunny") is a copy of Dürer's Hare made from rabbit droppings, and Klaus Staeck enclosed one in a little wooden box, with a cutout hole, so that it could look out and breathe. Dürer's Hare has even inspired a depiction of the mythological Wolpertinger. Millais’ watercolour was commissioned for an illustrated edition of Poets of the Nineteenth Century to illustrate the poem ‘Love’ by Samuel Taylor Coleridge. The poem tells of a moonlit meeting between two lovers. To a contemporary reader the poem’s content would have seemed quite risqué due to a woman meeting a man so late at night flirting with him and embracing him. Despite this deliberate attempt to titillate his audience, Coleridge repeatedly emphasises the heroine Genevieve’s modesty and virginity. This cannot be easily conveyed through one pictorial scene so it is possible that Millais added the rabbit to serve at once as a reminder of Genevieve’s virginal purity whilst alluding to the more intimate, and controversial, connection between the lovers. Hares Roasting a Hunter, Virgil Solis, ca. 1530-1562. Museum no. E.878-1927. © Victoria and Albert Museum, London. This rather gruesome, darkly humorous and absurd representation of hares roasting a hunter was inspired by the popular trope of ‘the world turned upside down’, with its use of ridiculous role reversal imagery. Again this image is illustrative of the paradoxical nature of the symbolism of rabbits and hares by simultaneously alluding to the cowardice of the animal whilst also revealing the fear rabbits instilled in some cultures. Because of the hares association with cowardice, connected to the animal’s natural tendency to be fearful of predators, the imagery of the hares roasting the hunter was perhaps the most absurd the artist could think of, particularly as one would normally think of rabbits as the hunted, rather than the hunter! In addition, in Christianity, rabbits were often thought to be witches’ familiars, making people fear them. Therefore, perhaps the hares in this image could be burning the men who persecuted them.

Hare in Transit, Bruce Gernand, 2004. Museum no. © Victoria and Albert Museum, London/Bruce Gernand. Rabbits and hares still feature in contemporary art practices including computer art. Based on Aesop’s Fable ‘The Tortoise and the Hare’, this work by Bruce Gernand uses the hare as a vehicle to represent the relation between the virtual and material. The hare in this case is representative of the speed of computers and computer processes. The Nine of Hares, Master P W of Cologne. Museum no.E.14-1923. © Victoria and Albert Museum, London. This round playing card adorned with hares is part of a set from around 1500. Although rabbits and hares have long been a favorite subject in studies of nature card engravers usually depicted animals and plants from model books. However, in this case, the hares have been drawn from nature. This may be why these hares are so lifelike in terms of their poses with distinct personalities and characteristics –although some are a little menacing looking – sniffing the ground, standing to attention and looking around with curiosity. One thing that has become clear to me through my investigation into the symbolism of rabbits is its complexity which is fraught with paradoxes. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rabbits_and_hares_in_art https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Brooklyn_Museum_-_Rabbit_Beneath_New_Year's_Pine.jpg http://www.vam.ac.uk/blog/factory-presents/merry-march-hares-and-rabbits http://www.vam.ac.uk/blog/factory-presents/merry-march-hares-and-rabbits http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/works-of-art/1978.412.118 http://www.jean-stote-fine-art.co.uk/ http://www.nolonstacey.com/limited-edition-prints/wide-eyed-hare https://www.pinterest.com/pin/51580358205744671/ http://caroleeclark.wordpress.com/2012/12/01/tilly-expressionistic-painting-of-a-belgain-hare/ http://fineartamerica.com/featured/moonlite-and-hare-amanda-clark.html http://www.think-differently-about-sheep.com/rabbits_and_hares_in_art.htm

Elephant and Hare [Maasai] http://www.johntyman.com/africa/folk/ There was once a herd of elephants who went to gather honey to take to their in-laws. As they were walking along, they came upon Hare who was just about to cross the river. She said to one of them: "Father, please help me get across the river." The elephant agreed to this request and said to Hare: "You may jump on to my back." As Hare sat on the elephant's back, she was quick to notice the two bags full of honey that the elephant was carrying. She started eating honey from one of the bags, and when she had eaten it all, she called out to Elephant saying: "Father, please hand me a stone to play with." When she was given the stone, she put it in the now empty bag of honey, and started eating the honey from the second bag. When she had eaten it all, she again requested another stone saying: "Father, please hand me another stone for the one you gave me has dropped, and I want to throw it at the birds." Elephant handed her another stone, and then another, as she kept asking for stones on the pretext that she was throwing them at the birds, until she had filled both bags with stones.

When Hare realized that the elephants were about to arrive at their destination, she said to the elephant which was carrying her: "Father, I have now arrived, please let me down." So Hare went on her way. Soon afterwards, the elephant looked at his bags, only to realize that they were full of stones! He exclaimed to the others: "Oh my goodness! The hare has finished all my honey!" They lifted up their eyes and saw Hare leaping away at a distance; they set off after her. They caught up with Hare within no time, but as the elephants were about to grab her, she disappeared into a hole. But the elephant managed to catch hold of her tail, at which time the skin from the tail got peeled off. Elephant next grabbed her by the leg. Hare laughed at this loudly, saying: "Oh! You have held a root mistaking it for me!" Thereupon Elephant let go of Hare's leg and instead got hold of a root. Hare shrieked from within and said: "Oh father, you have broken my leg!" As Elephant was struggling with the root, Hare maneuvered her way out and ran as fast as her legs could carry her. Elephant had by this time managed to pull out the root only to realize that it was not Hare's leg. Once more he lifted up his eyes and saw Hare leaping and jumping over bushes in a bid to escape. Elephant ran in pursuit of her once more.

As Hare continued running, she came across some herdsmen and said to them: "Hey you, herdsmen, do you see that elephant from yonder, you had better run away, for he is coming after you." The herdsmen scampered and went their separate ways. When Elephant saw the herdsmen running, he thought they were running after Hare; so he too ran after them. When he caught up with them, he said: "Hey you, herdsmen, have you seen a hare with a skinned tail passing along here?" The herdsmen answered: "You have passed her along the way as she was going in the opposite direction." While Elephant had been chasing the herdsmen, Hare had gained some time to run in the opposite direction.

Next, Hare came upon some women who were sewing outside the homestead and said to them: "Hey you, mothers who are sewing, do you see that elephant from yonder, you had better run away for he is coming after you." On hearing this, the women scampered for the safety of their houses immediately. But soon the elephant caught up with them and asked: "Hey you, honorable ladies, might you have seen a hare with a skinned tail going toward this direction?" The women answered: "There she goes over there."

Hare kept running and this time she came upon antelopes grazing and she said to them: "Hey you, antelopes, you had better run away for that elephant is coming after you." The antelopes were startled and they ran away as fast as their legs could carry them. But soon the elephant was upon them, and he asked them: "Hey you, antelopes, have you seen a hare with a skinned tail going in this direction?" They pointed out to him the direction that Hare had followed.

Still on the run, Hare next came upon a group of other hares, to whom she said: "Hey you, hares, do you see that elephant coming from yonder? You should all skin your tails for he is after those hares with unskinned tails." Thereupon all the hares quickly skinned their tails. At the same moment the elephant arrived and asked them: "Hey you, hares, have you seen a hare with a skinned tail going towards this direction?" The hares replied: "Don't you see that all our tails are skinned?" As the hares said this, they were displaying their tails confident it would please Elephant. On noticing that all the hares' tails were skinned, Elephant realised that Hare had played a trick on him. Elephant could not find the culprit, for all the hares were alike. And there ends the story.

Word of the week: Sacrifice

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