A small animal with great symbolic power: the hare is one of the most complex pictorial motifs in European art history. From medieval church windows to Flemish masterpieces and contemporary installations, this animal has occupied generations of artists. It enters the collective consciousness at Easter time in particular – but the depth of meaning of its pictorial program extends far beyond chocolate moulds and spring decorations.
If you look at an old church vault and come across three interlocking long ears forming a triangle, you will encounter one of the strangest and most beautiful mysteries in European iconography. The so-called three-hare window – which can be found in the parish church of St. Peter in Paderborn or in numerous southern German and English churches of the Middle Ages – shows three animals that appear complete despite only sharing three ears. This depiction is not a playful ornament, but an expression of a deeply rooted symbolic system that linked the small rodent with concepts such as the Trinity, eternity and the divine cycle.
Between antiquity and Christianity: the early layers of meaning
Long before Christianity shaped Europe, the animal was a symbol of fertility, speed and transformation. In Greco-Roman mythology, it was considered to belong to the god of love Eros or Cupid, but also appeared as an attribute of Aphrodite/Venus. In late antiquity, the hare also served as a symbol of life after death.
In Christianity, the hare played an ambivalent role; originally it was considered unclean in the Old Testament and Leviticus, among others, wrote that it was forbidden to eat a hare. In Christian representations, the hare can take on different roles: It can be a symbol of vigilance and was therefore often used as a sign of catechumens, but it could also be a symbol of weak Christians persecuted by the devil. Sometimes, however, it can also be read as a symbol of Christ, in particular a white hare refers to the resurrection of Christ; such a depiction can be found in Giovanni Bellini’s The Resurrection of Jesus Christ , for example. A running hare, on the other hand, often has a negative connotation, symbolizing someone running after their desires – but at the same time it can also be interpreted positively, as it is running after Christ, depending on which direction the hare is running in; if it is running uphill, it can usually be interpreted as a positive symbol.
Rabbits are also a symbol of fertility and are therefore often associated with lust (luxuria). This is why they are often found in depictions of the Fall of Man, such as in Albrecht Dürer’s engraving Adam and Eve. In depictions of the Virgin Mary, on the other hand, the hare can be interpreted positively, for example in Hans Baldung Grien’s Visitation of the Virgin Mary. A small white hare at the feet of Mary or a saint is also regarded as a symbol of victory over carnality.
Albrecht Dürer and Flemish painting: the animal as a masterpiece
Probably the most famous single depiction of a long-eared hare in Western art history is by Albrecht Dürer: his watercolor work Young Hare from 1502, now in the Albertina in Vienna, is considered the epitome of both scientific precision and artistic mastery. Dürer captures the animal not as a symbol, but as an individual – every hair, every reflection of light in the eye is rendered with remarkable care. At the same time, this hyper-realistic depiction resonates with the contemporary idea that the precise study of nature reveals the divine plan of creation.
In Flemish still life and hunting paintings of the 17th century, on the other hand, the hare appears as a hunted game: hung up and presented in subdued light, it becomes the subject of elegiac vanitas contemplation. Artists such as Frans Snyders and Jan Weenix integrated it into lavish arrangements of dead feathered game, fruit and hunting equipment. Here, the animal stands for transient life, for the triumph of man over nature – and at the same time, in the memento mori context of this era, for the inevitability of death.
The Easter bunny: folklore, symbolism and its artistic reception
The association of the animal with Easter is more recent than is generally assumed and is by no means biblically based, as many believe. The earliest written reference to the Easter bunny dates back to the 17th century, from Georg Franck von Franckenau’s treatise De ovis paschalibus from 1682. Folklore and religious history still debate today whether it is a reinterpretation of pre-Christian spring rites or a relatively late cultural construct. It is indisputable that the motif of the hare in the Christian context of spring has been present in the visual arts since the late Middle Ages. The connection between resurrection, fertility and the promise of springtime renewal made it the ideal companion for the highest Christian festival. On votive paintings, in sacred goldsmith’s art and in illustrated books of hours, the animal appears again and again in the context of depictions of the Passion and Easter, usually as a discreet side note, rarely as the main motif. Popularization then took place in the 19th and early 20th centuries: the Easter bunny became mass iconography through postcards, lithographs and finally advertising design. Contemporary artists such as Jeff Koons have themselves made this commercialization process their subject – Koons’ polished stainless steel Rabbit from 1986, which was auctioned in 2019 for more than 91 million dollars, is at once a reflection on kitsch, the world of commodities and the history of sculpture.
What makes this animal such an enduring motif in art history is its semantic flexibility: it can embody innocence and cunning, fertility and transience, divinity and banality – often simultaneously. From Dürer’s masterful watercolor to Gothic church windows to Koons’ shiny surface, one and the same animal runs through the centuries, always reflecting the values, fears and desires of the time in which it was created. Anyone who sees a picture of a hare in these spring days is looking at one of the longest pictorial traditions in Europe – and at a symbol that is still far from being interpreted.
