(Brussels 1668–1754 Augsburg)
Forest Still Life with Foliage, a Snake, a Lizard, Grasshoppers, Snails, Butterflies and Beetles,
oil on panel, 41 x 28.5 cm, framed

The present painting can be compared to a work by Hamilton once in the collection of Dr. Anton C. R. Dreesmann (sold at Christie’s, London, on 11 April 2002 as lot 560). Both pictures share the aggressive interaction between the snake and the lizard. The paintings seem to date from the artist’s late period.
Carl Wilhelm de Hamilton, a member of the prominent family of artists, lived in Southern Germany. He temporarily worked as court painter to the margrave of Baden-Baden and the prince bishop of Augsburg. The still life painters Otto Marseus van Schrieck and Elias van den Broeck had a great influence on his work. Like them, he specialized in sous-bois still lifes populated by insects, amphibians, and reptiles. The present painting demonstrates Hamilton’s ability to combine scientific accuracy in the observation of animals and plants with a balanced harmony of composition and colours. The arrangement of flora and fauna was certainly not left to chance, for as a rule many of the animals and plants depicted by the artist had symbolic and biblical connotations. Other versions slightly varying from the present painting exist, such as in the Staatliches Museum Schwerin (as Ferdinand de Hamilton) and the Musée des Beaux-Arts in Lyon.