 Rubens contributed to the long-standing genre of the large hunting scene and his studio produced dozens for aristocratic patrons in the 1610s and 1620s.Maximilian I, Elector of Bavaria, commissioned the "Hippopotamus and Crocodile Hunt" three others depicting lion, wolf, and boar hunts, in 1615 to decorate Schleißheim Palace, the summer residence of the Wittelsbach princes.Rubens and his studio produced the four large canvases in Antwerp over the years 1615–16.