(Milan active 1690–1730)
A hunting dog with prey, a hare, a pheasant and other birds,
oil on canvas, 112.7 x 147 cm, framed

Provenance:
European aristocratic collection, since at least the 19th Century

We are grateful to Gianluca Bocchi for confirming the attribution on the basis of a photograph.

Angelo Maria Crivelli, known as ‘il Crivellone’ (to distinguish him from his son Giovanni, ‘il Crivellino’) was an artist considered by his contemporaries to be one of the most significant still life painters of his time. According to the biographer, Antonio Orlandi, il Crivellone could see ‘Truth before his eyes, more than Nature itself’ (see A. Orlandi, Abecedario pittorico del M. R. P. Pellegrino Antonio Orlandi, bolognese, contenente le notizie de’ professori di pittura, scoltura, ed architettura, Venice 1753, p. 60).

Born in Milan in the second half of the seventeenth century, il Crivellone is documented between 1662 and 1730; he worked at the court of Parma (see op. cit. Orlandi 1753, p. 60). He specialised in the representation of animals, influenced by the works of Flemish artists including Hondecoeter, Weenix, Snyders and Fyt and his still-life paintings are characterised by refined and precise, yet lively brushstrokes. His oeuvre shows the reiteration of similar subjects with variations such as the present works which are significant examples of his corpus.