Still-Life with Hunting Equipment and Dead Birds Willem van Aelst 1668

Still-Life with Hunting Equipment and Dead Birds
Willem van Aelst 1668
From the collection of
Staatliche Kunsthalle Karlsruhe
Willem van Aelst’s hunting still life is notable for its faithful depiction of nature and the strikingly illusionistic treatment of the different bits of equipment – among them falcon hoods, a hunting horn and a velvet pouch – and the quarry itself, a partridge strung up by one leg and hanging head down, its soft grey plumage rendered with great naturalism. The fly, which has momentarily settled on it, is a symbol of transience.
Like the shimmer of the fly’s wings, the texture of the soft velvet, the roughness of the leather and the smooth surface of the metal are rendered with such virtuoso skill that the viewer gets a sense of almost being able to touch them. The painting gave the Netherlandish artist ample scope to display his skill as a ‘fine’ painter (fijnschilder). This sophisticated style of painting was highly prized by Ferdinand II de’ Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany, at whose Florentine court he worked from 1649 to 1656, and by Caroline Louise, Margravine of Baden, who acquired the painting nearly a century after its completion. Her art collection laid the foundation for the Staatliche Kunsthalle Karlsruhe.
Details
Title: Still-Life with Hunting Equipment and Dead Birds
Creator: Willem van Aelst
Date: 1668
Physical Dimensions: w54 cm x h68 cm
Provenance: © Staatliche Kunsthalle Karlsruhe
Type: Painting
External Link: http://swbexpo.bsz-bw.de/skk/detail.jsf?id=C44D28824510AAA545F8E88E7B888A08&img=1
Medium: Oil on canvas

Staatliche Kunsthalle Karlsruhe
Karlsruhe, Germany

Presiding over three buildings on Hans-Thoma-Straße – the main building, the Junge Kunsthalle, and the Orangerie – the Staatliche Kunsthalle Karlsruhe is one of Germany’s largest and most historical art museums. Opened in 1846, the Kunsthalle is one of the few art museums to be largely preserved in its original form and with its original interiors. The main building and the Orangerie feature 800 works from the Late Middle Ages up to the present day, while the Junge Kunsthalle houses exhibitions especially designed for children and young people. Our museum’s mission is not only to preserve seven centuries of European art history, but also to engage in a contemporary dialogue with the collection and its discriminating expansion.

Willem van Aelst
May 16, 1627 - 1683

Willem van Aelst was a Dutch Golden Age artist who specialized in still-life painting with flowers or game.
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