Provenance
Pierre-Hippolyte Aumont [d. 1865], by 1846.[1] Probably (sale, Hôtel Drouot, Paris, 6 May 1870, no. 5, as _Vue dans la forêt de Nettuno_).[2] Private collection, France; (sale, Drouot Richelieu, Renaud-Giquello & Associates, Paris, 17 October 2003, no. 52); (Richard L. Feigen & Co., New York); purchased 27 February 2004 by NGA.
[1] According to the 2003 sale catalogue, Pierre-Hipppolyte Aumont likely owned this painting at the time he lent its pendant, Vernet's _Hunting in the Pontine Marshes_ (NGA 1989.3.1), to an 1846 exhibition at the Bazar Bonne-Nouvelle.
[2] Bruno Chenique has suggested that this is the NGA painting, sold together with NGA 1989.3.1, which was lot 4, _Chasse dans les marais Pontins_, in the sale catalogue.
Accession Number
2004.38.1
Medium
oil on canvas
Dimensions
overall: 100.01 × 150.65 cm (39 3/8 × 59 5/16 in.) | framed: 135.89 × 170.82 × 16.51 cm (53 1/2 × 67 1/4 × 6 1/2 in.)
Classification
Painting
Credit Line
Chester Dale Fund
Tags
Painting Neoclassical & Romantic (1751–1850) Oil Painting Canvas French
Background & Context
Background Story
The pendant to Hunting in the Pontine Marshes, this painting shows the preparations and departure for the same hunt — the gathering of hunters, dogs, and equipment before the action begins. The departure scene allows Vernet to display his skill at figure painting and social observation: the hunters' costumes, the arrangement of the party, and the landscape of the marshes in morning light all receive his characteristic attention to detail. The two paintings together constitute a complete narrative of the hunt, from preparation to action, and they were likely conceived as a pair from the beginning.
Cultural Impact
Hunting pairs — departure and action, or departure and return — were a well-established format in French painting, going back to the 17th-century tapestry designs that decorated the hunting lodges of the French kings. Vernet's Pontine Marshes pair connects him to this tradition while updating it with the 19th-century taste for Italian landscape and aristocratic sport. The pair format allowed collectors to display the full narrative of the hunt in a single room.
Why It Matters
Departure for the Hunt is the calm before the storm: the moment of preparation that gives the action of the companion painting its dramatic weight. Without the departure, the hunt is just action; with it, the hunt becomes a narrative — a story with a beginning and a middle.
