Attr. Jacobus Or Iacomo Victor (circa 1640 - 1705), Still Life With Birds

Attr. Jacobus or Iacomo Victor (Amsterdam around 1640 - 1705)
Still life with birds
Oil on canvas, 112 x 133 cm

The still life examined here is a rare example of the simultaneous presence of living and dead animals in the same composition. On two rocky levels, different ornithological species are carefully arranged, reproduced with the greatest fidelity and adherence to life. We recognize mallards, doves, sparrows and a partridge resting on their backs. The soft coats of different chromatic tones, with the characteristic streaks and spots of color, together with the precise study of the different ornithological typologies, denote an observation of the real datum typical of the Flemish tradition of the seventeenth century. Another mallard, alive this time, seems to have landed on the rock, as if to watch the rich composition move its neck. Its characteristic colors, the bright green of the head and the upper part of the neck, the yellow of the beak and the orange of the legs characterize the painting and capture the attention of the viewer. The flight of the dove in the foreground is splendid, seen from above, the virtuoso pose and the brilliance of its feathers, in an elegant modulation of gray tending towards white, denote the stylistic quality of this work. It was probably created by a Flemish artist working in Italy in the second half of the 17th century: close analogies can be found with the game of Jacobus Victor. The author of the painting reveals a smooth touch soaked in light, the soft and delicate chromatic choices in the shades of whites, grays and browns, as in the figure of the dove with outstretched wings, including the intense whites of its plumage, the figures represented stand out conspicuously from the background. Precise and refined color selections distinguish and qualify the painter with an intensity of light that permeates and invigorates his subjects, the doves in particular, the favorite creatures or at least the favorite actors in his scenes. We find them, for example, in the specimens of the Pinacoteca of Cremona, one of which with Three pigeons in a plane, fully reveals the gentle pictorial vivacity and an effective luminosity that floods every detail with gray and blue tones, cold but delicate. , which announce the encounter with the atmosphere of his land.