Jara y Sedal Magazine » Hunting » El Vaso de la Montería: the 500-year-old piece that recalls why hunting is a Site of Cultural InterestThe 'Vaso de la Montería' is a valuable piece that is in the Prado Museum and that describes a scene of this type of hunting declared this week of Cultural Interest in Extremadura.Montería is a form of hunting that has more than 700 years of history in our country.In fact, it has recently been declared an Asset of Cultural Interest in autonomous communities such as Andalusia or Extremadura.Over the centuries, this traditional way of hunting deer or wild boar has been reflected in hundreds of works of art, and for proof, the following object, which is exhibited in the Prado Museum in Madrid.Its name is Vaso de la Montería and it was created between 1550 and 1575.As indicated by the experts at the Prado Museum, the glass is made up of three pieces of rock crystal.The body takes the form of an ancient urn with a circular section, with a neck with a concave profile from which emerge, as handles, two winged female busts, sculpted from the mass of the body itself.It rests on a splined foot that has been recently identified, as has the lid.A complex scene unfolds occupying the central strip, according to one of the typical schemes of Milanese production, framed above and below by the same motif of concave chevrons that extend to also occupy the neck area.The same design continues on the foot.This piece was called by Angulo Vaso de la Montería, since the scene is a representation of said hunting modality, in which tiny figures march on foot and on horseback, dressed in the classical way, with tunics and hunting clothing.Part of this affair seems to be inspired by the episode of the hunt for Meleager, as described in Ovid's Metamorphoses.One of the characters, who appears carrying a spear from which a rabbit or a hare hangs, could be a reference to Hispania, the Roman name for Spain.According to the Prado Museum in the description of the object, the landscape represented also coincides with the story of Ovid, who places the action in a thick grove where streams flow.The military aspect of some figures stands out, which may indicate their status as classic heroes or indicate that the episode represented is, in fact, a reference to military actions that, transferred to the contemporary world, could allude to episodes of fighting against enemies of different types. , infidels or heretics, with Carlos V or Felipe II as protagonists.Perhaps it is no coincidence that in the story of the boar hunt, in addition to the twins Castor and Pollux or Theseus, Jason appears among the accompanying heroes, who, together with the Argonauts -including Meleager-, traveled in search of the golden fleece, a symbolic image that gives its name to the order of the Golden Fleece, linked to the house of Habsburg.In 1929, Ernst Kris already related this glass to Francesco Tortorino (c. 1512-1572), an artist specialized in carving cameos and crystals and famous for the meticulousness of his work, based on two signed works made around 1569, both preserved in Vienna.This attribution has been endorsed by subsequent critics and, in fact, the relationship of this work with the Triumphal Column of the Museo degli Argenti in Florence, Inv.Gemme 1921, no.723, has served to definitively attribute this vase to the same author.Some details, such as the trees, the water waves, the way of treating human hair or the locks of some animals, are similar in the examples mentioned.The Dauphin's Treasure is a set of precious vessels that, from the extremely rich collection of Luis, the great Dauphin of France, came to Spain as an inheritance from his son Philip V, the first king of the Spanish Bourbon branch.Louis of France (1661-1711), son of Louis XIV and Maria Theresa of Austria, began his collection early on, influenced by his father;The acquisition of works took place in various ways, from gifts to their purchase at auctions and auctions.When the Dauphin died, Felipe V (1683-1746) inherited a set of vases with their respective cases, which were sent to Spain.In 1716 they were in the Alcázar of Madrid, kept in their boxes, from where they were transferred, at a later date, to La Granja de San Ildefonso, where they were cited at the death of Philip V, preserved in the so-called Casa de las Alhajas.In 1778 they were deposited, by royal order of Carlos III, in the Royal Cabinet of Natural History and remained in the institution until the looting of the French troops in 1813. The return of the pieces took place two years later and with some losses.It was in 1839 when the collection arrived at the Royal Museum, where it was robbed in 1918.On the occasion of the Spanish Civil War they were sent to Switzerland, returning in 1939, with the loss of a glass, since then they have been exhibited in the Villanueva building.The case of the previous piece is dated between the 16th and 17th centuries.The technique used to make it was molding and trimmings with wood, metal and velvet as materials.It measures 24.5 centimeters high, 17.5 centimeters wide and weighs 357 grams, belonging to the Dolphin Treasure series.It was made in France, it is lined with velvet on the outside and inside and has a gallon with metal fasteners on the outside, according to what the Prado Museum itself states on its website.The cases served to house the collection of jewels received by the young Felipe V, Duke of Anjou, after the death of his father Luis de Borbón (the Dauphin of France).Some time later, in 1776, Carlos III ceded the set of vessels, including their cases, to the Royal Cabinet of Natural History, where he remained until the jewels left for Paris, leaving the cases behind.When these were recovered, many of the cases could possibly no longer be used as containers, as the jewels were returned improperly mutilated or reconstructed.The cases of these luxury glasses were conceived in a practical way, with the shape of the contained glass.Part of the cases that are preserved are those that originally had the glasses when they were manufactured;others were commissioned by their successive owners, sometimes personalized with symbols related to the owner, as is the case with the series of red cases decorated with fleurs-de-lis and dolphins.The existence or not of these protective cases often determined the longevity of the vessels they contained.Some of these cases can be grouped according to their characteristics, although, in general, their souls are made of wood, and they have an inner lining of textile or leather, sometimes padded with wool fleece, while on the outside they have a finish in fabrics of luxury or fine decorated skins, either dry or gold.Jara y Sedal is the most widely read hunting magazine in Spain and the most visited website since 2015. Our community on social networks exceeds one million users and our website, with more than 35,000,000 visits per year.Do you want to advertise?advertising@revistajaraysedal.esContact us: info@revistajaraysedal.esJara y Sedal Code of EthicsJara y Sedal is the most widely read hunting magazine in Spain, our community on social networks exceeds 900,000 users and our website, with more than 25,000,000 visits a year, is the only one in Spain officially controlled by OJDinteractiva.Do you want to advertise?advertising@revistajaraysedal.esContact us: info@revistajaraysedal.esJara y Sedal Code of EthicsJara y Sedal is the most widely read hunting magazine in Spain, our community on social networks exceeds 900,000 users and our website, with more than 25,000,000 visits a year, is the only one in Spain officially controlled by OJDinteractiva.Do you want to advertise?advertising@revistajaraysedal.esContact us: info@revistajaraysedal.esJara y Sedal Code of Ethics