Painting Still Life with Dog1651 by JAN FYT.

J.FYT. Still Life with a Dog. Oil on canvas. 103Х135,5 cm. Signature at bottom center. 1651.The work presented is attributed to the renowned Flemish painter and printmaker Jan Fyt (1611-1661) as part of a later series of hunting scenes created by the artist.A monumental canvas in the style of Flemish novelists is built as a circular composition around a dog with the prey and the diagonal of a hare and a gun. The living and the dead in the circle of being are presented as trophies of excitement and the experience of comprehending life. Our agent, a hunting dog, - a lively genuine interest in life involuntarily rests on and is compared with a dead hare. You cannot escape death. The contrast between the desk of an abandoned bandolier and a barely noticeable sanctuary in the upper right corner is also indicative. This is the sacred opposition of vain and eternal. The apparent power and power of fate. High moral and ethical and human experiences are characteristic trace of Flemish novelists in world art. This work is no exception.The painting consists of many details inherent in the artist on the theme of hunting. First of all, one can note the hunting dog located on the left side of the picture, looking at a dead bird lying on the floor, as well as a hare suspended by the leg located in the central part of the picture. Figures of animals and birds were created by the artist in an amazingly realistic manner. This work is distinguished by the decorative effect of the composition, the sophistication of golden color, rich in tonal transitions and shades of color, the virtuoso transfer of the silky plumage of the birds and the texture of the animal hair depicted in the picture. The contrasts of light and shadow passing through the presented elements of the picture help to give them greater platicity and dynamism, which is also facilitated by the inclusion of vertical and horizontal lines in the part of the interior items depicted in the picture, the gun and the silhouette of a tree placed in the background of the work. unusually large, highlighting the chosen theme of a successful hunt.On the depicted butt of a hunting rifle, lying on the floor in the central part of the picture, the artist placed the authors signature J.FYT as well as the date 1651.The painting undoubtedly has artistic and historical significance, being an excellent example of the work of the artist Jan Fyt during his life in Antwerp.Canvas dimensions: 84.5 x 118.5 cm.Previously restored. The canvas is duplicated.Historical reference:The depiction of still-life hunting compositions with weapons and killed animals was one of the favorite themes in the works of Dutch artists of the 16th-17th centuries, who served as decorations for the walls of hunting lodges and castles of the European nobility.Hunting trophies were proof of the valor of the owners of the dwelling. The entourage of the heads and skins of killed animals, which were attached to the castles, were successfully complemented by picturesque compositions with hunting scenes and hunting still lifes.Hunting still lifes created by artists of the 16th - 17th centuries were a kind of message to the world in which the authors of the works laid the deep meaning and symbolism of this era.