Enraged elephant

Brush drawing with gouache on paper.

Male elephants periodically become frenzied during their mast(‘drunken, intoxicated’) season, marked by a discharge from glands in the temples and by aggressive behaviour. Wild-eyed and enraged, this elephant tears at his tethering chains while his mahout and keepers struggle to control him. The surging contours and dense modelling of this elephant show a debt to the master of the previous painting of elephants fighting [LI118.62].

To view a high-resolution version of this image and for further information please visit the Yousef Jameel Online Centre at the Ashmolean.