Hare, Spoonbill, and Fish
Unknown Artist
mid-1600s
Medium
oil on canvas
Dimensions
unframed: 99.5 × 128.5 cm · framed: 128.5 × 159 × 8 cm
Classification
Painting
Department
European Painting and Sculpture
Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Credit
Holden Collection
Accession Number
1916.1001
About this artwork
Recently conserved, this striking painting of fish and game has yet to be attributed to a specific artist. Art historians have considered Dutch, Spanish, or Italian artists as possibilities, including the Dutch still-life and animal specialist Frans Snyders and the Spanish artist Alejandro de Loarte. But both have been rejected on stylistic grounds. An Italian artist is more plausible; the vaguely rendered, reddish background and the fluid handling of paint, especially in the portrayal of the fi...