Italian school; mid-seventeenth century. "Nature shows birds". Oil on canvas.

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OLD MASTERS

By Setdart Auction House

Jul 14, 2021

Set Reminder 2021-07-14 06:30:00 2021-07-14 06:30:00 America/New_York Bidsquare Bidsquare : OLD MASTERS https://www.bidsquare.com/auctions/setdart-auction-house/old-masters-7202
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• Lot Description
  Italian school; mid-seventeenth century. "Nature shows birds". Oil on canvas. They present repainting and pictorial losses. Size: 102,5 x 73 cm (x2). Pair of still lifes, in which the author has chosen to capture a group of birds in reference to the practice of hunting. Both lots are heirs of the Italian naturalistic still life of the early seventeenth century in the chromatic and luminous aspects, and also in a certain way in the way of arranging the different elements, which already reveal an advance towards the full baroque with the incorporation of animals arranged at various heights, which provide dynamism and narrative, although they are not captured with the violence and tension typical of the still life of the time. Thus, we see a clear and centered composition, organized around a large bird, larger than the others (in both still lifes), located approximately in the center of the image, around which the other animals are arranged. The elements appear inscribed in a landscape, indeterminate in one of the cases, while in the other still life, the background is only shown by the presence of the color black. The slight baroque asymmetry of the composition is determined by the presence, in the background, of the arrangement of the smaller birds. As usual in the Italian still life of the period, all the elements that compose it are worked with great naturalism; the brushstroke is dense, impastoed and very controlled, derived from the influence of Velázquez, and reflects with special verisimilitude the different qualities of food, animals and objects. These qualities are further enhanced by the studied lighting, of tenebrist heritage, which directly affects the elements that the painter wants to highlight, leaving the rest enveloped in a nuanced half-light. The feathers of the animals especially attract our attention, which present a wide diversity, thus showing the artist's study in the qualities, and in the differentiation of the species of birds, with the intention of offering a realistic image. This illusion of reality is reinforced by the contrasted and expressive lighting, which in turn is supported by a typical naturalistic baroque chromatism, centered on earthy and ochre tones, with touches of carmine and white strategically placed to build a zigzagging rhythm that guides our gaze from the foreground to the background.
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