(Antwerp 1636–1699 Brussels)
Game guarded by Dogs in a woodland Landscape;
A Peacock, a Parrot, Turkey, Chickens, Rabbits and a Guinea Pig in a park Landscape;
oil on canvas, 171,5 x 121,5 cm and 171,5 x 125,5 cm, framed (2)

Provenance:
possibly Boncompagni-Ludovisi collection, Rome;
possibly Ugo Boncompagni-Ludovisi collection (Rome 1856–1935), Prince of Piombino, Marquis of Populonia, Duke of Monterotondo, Sora e Arce, Count of Conza and Marquis of di Vignola; Foligno, circa 1880;
possibly by descent to Francesco Boncompagni-Ludovisi (Foligno 1886–1955 Rome), Foligno;
From whom acquired by Marquises Laureati, Foligno;
European private collection.

We are grateful to Fred Meijer for confirming the attribution on the basis of digital photographs.

The present works are characteristic of the Flemish artist who influenced an entire generation of French, Italian and Dutch still life painters. One of the paintings shows the journey home after a day’s hunting, with dogs on the right-hand side. Its counterpart depicts a park landscape with exotic animals – a peacock, parrot, turkey, chickens, two rabbits and a guinea pig. A painting with a similar composition was auctioned at Sotheby’s in London on 7 July 2005 (lot 128).

David de Coninck was a pupil of Pieter Boel and also probably Jan Fyt. In 1663 he was accepted as a master of Antwerp’s Lucas guild. In 1670 he travelled through Bavaria, Vienna and Venice to Rome, where he settled. He became a member of the Academy in Rome in 1686 before returning to Antwerp in 1687. In 1699 he moved to Brussels, becoming a master of the local guild in 1701. Most of his still lifes with fruit and game, his hunting scenes and animal paintings are executed in warm, deep colours, their composition bearing witness to the influence of the works of Jan Fyt.