The heads of three dead stags on a shelf, nuzzled by a terrier. Engraving by J. Outrim, 1868, after E.H. Landseer.

""The forest" depicts the progress of a stag hunt from its stealthy initiation to its bloody conclusion. Due to the commissioning of the works from various engravers the prints appeared out of sequence. However when they are viewed in logical sequence the orginality and radical nature of Landseer's "Forest" is readily apparent. The end products of the hunt are depicted in "The venison house" (1845) and "Precious trophies" (1857). The remaining prints of this series represent animal life or man in his preparation for the hunt. For Landseer "The forest" represented a radical departure from his earlier anthropomorphic works. What Landseer's "Forest" represents only too clearly is the cruelty of man's relationship with the natural world. This series sold well and indeed, many of the works were subsequently reissued. Why was the depiction of such carnage acceptable to the largely middle class market ? ... It was the fear of pain that Landseer's "Forest" touched and played upon for, at one instant, the observer could empathise with the beast while distancing himself from man the beast."--Pringle, op. cit., pp. 232-235