Jacobus Biltius, Trompe-l'œil with a Rabbit, Hunting Equipment and a Hunting Dog against a White Wall

Lot description

Signed and dated lower left: J : Biltius. fecit / A. 1672 Jacobus Biltius specialised in still lifes of game and is today best known for his trompe-l'œils, which often depict hunting equipment. Biltius was born in The Hague and worked in Amsterdam, Maastricht, Antwerp, Leeuwarden(?) and Bergen op Zoom. In 1660 he joined the Confrerie Pictura in The Hague, an artists‘ association founded in 1656 by a group of artists who were dissatisfied with the city's painters' guild. Around 1672/73 he became a member of the Guild of St Luke in Antwerp. His son Cornelis continued to produce trompe-l'œil paintings in a similar style, particularly in the German cities of Bonn and Cologne. The tromp-l'œil genre came into vogue when artists such as Philips Angel, Jacobus and Cornelis Biltius and Johannes and Antonius Leemans began to utilise the possibilities of this newly developed genre. The present pair of paintings is an outstanding example of Biltius' pioneering achievement in creating the illusion of three-dimensional objects. The careful rendering of various textures, close attention to the play of light and the placement of shadows are among the most important factors in creating such an illusion and are marvellously illustrated in this pair of hunting still lifes. Pendant to lot 1043.