Big Hand Carved Painted Stag Sculpture in Wood, Early 18th Century

The stag deer are a symbol of spiritual authority, a deer stag is here depicted in all its magnificent elegance. Wooden sculpture of a life-size deer stag laying upon a rectangular platform base.

The symbol of the stag:
The deer’s antlers are one of the characteristics that have made it the figure of a spiritual superiority, according to some. Like a crown, the antlers grow beyond its body, bringing it closer to the sky and making it sacred. In many cultures, the deer is a symbol of spiritual authority. During a deer’s life the antlers fall off and grow again and the animal is also a symbol of reGeneration.

In the Christian imagination, the deer is a symbol of piety, devotion and of God taking care of his children: men. The legend of Saint Eustace, for example, tells the story of the Roman general who, before becoming a saint, was out hunting and came across a magnificent and enormous deer. When Eustace looked at the animal’s eyes, the light of Christ shone out of them and the voice of God spoke to him through them. Placido, the Roman name for the saint, gave up hunting and became a Christian.

The deer, which is related in many traditions with kindness, softness and gentleness, is, in one way or another, an animal that is connected to the gods and the sacred. One of the reasons for this could be its physical characteristics, its stare, its agility, its speed and its antlers, which inspire those values and symbols in the imagination of humans and in its metaphorical nature.