A Red Deer Buck and a Doe

A Red Deer Buck and a Doe from 1792 by George Stubbs is a late wildlife painting depicting wild red deer, Britain's largest native land mammal, in a naturalist study that demonstrates his continued anatomical interest in new species beyond horses. Stubbs's deer paintings, less numerous than his equine and canine subjects, show him applying to cervine anatomy the same systematic observation that had produced the Anatomy of the Horse—noting the proportions, the muscular structure visible beneath the coat, the characteristic postures and gaits of the species. The paired deer—buck and doe, male and female—provide comparison between the sexes, including the buck's distinctive antlers. The work is held at the Royal Collection and represents one of his last major animal studies before his death in 1806.

The deer pair is rendered with anatomical precision, the buck's antlers and both animals' builds depicted with careful observation.