Autumn from the Dog's Four Seasons

Autumn from the Dog's Four Seasons

Johann Elias Ridinger

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Ridinger worked mostly in Augsburg, Germany, but it was in nearby Regensburg that he was introduced to the aristocratic pursuits that became the predominant subject matter for his long and prolific artistic career. There, at the invitation of Prince Wolf Freiherr von Metternich, Ridinger observed and took part in local hunts, coursing, and shoots while attending the renowned riding academy. In Autumn, an elegant falconer is surrounded by his hounds, whose job it was to flush out the heron. The falcon perched on his arm would bring down the bird as it flew away; a second falcon sits on a branch at the lower right, below which are the heron and a group of smaller game birds.

Drawings and Prints

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Autumn from the Dog's Four SeasonsAutumn from the Dog's Four SeasonsAutumn from the Dog's Four SeasonsAutumn from the Dog's Four SeasonsAutumn from the Dog's Four Seasons

The Department’s vast collection of works on paper comprises approximately 21,000 drawings, 1.2 million prints, and 12,000 illustrated books created in Europe and the Americas from about 1400 to the present day. Since its foundation in 1916, the Department has been committed to collecting a wide range of works on paper, which includes both pieces that are incredibly rare and lauded for their aesthetic appeal, as well as material that is more popular, functional, and ephemeral. The broad scope of the department’s collecting encourages questions of connoisseurship as well as those pertaining to function and context, and demonstrates the vital role that prints, drawings, and illustrated books have played throughout history.