''A Hare and a Leg of Lamb'' (french: Un lièvre et un gigot de mouton) is a 1742 painting by French Rococo painter and engraver

Jean-Baptiste Oudry Jean-Baptiste Oudry (; 17 March 1686 – 30 April 1755) was a French Rococo painter, engraver, and tapestry designer. He is particularly well known for his naturalistic pictures of animals and his hunt pieces depicting game. His son, Jacques-Ch ...

Description

The painting employs a ''

trompe-l'œil ''Trompe-l'œil'' ( , ; ) is an artistic term for the highly realistic optical illusion of three-dimensional space and objects on a two-dimensional surface. ''Trompe l'oeil'', which is most often associated with painting, tricks the viewer into ...

'' technique and shows a skinned leg of lamb behind a dead hare, depicted with its eye open and a single drop of blood hanging from the end of its nose. The hare and the leg of lamb are nailed together to a wall. Oudry was known for his canvases featuring dead game, and ''A Hare and a Leg of Lamb'' has been described as, "uncannily real." Others have criticized the canvas as, "lifeless and inert...both highly contrived and utterly dead." The painting was originally commissioned to be hung in a dining room.

References

Rococo paintings 1742 paintings Paintings in the collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art Rabbits and hares in art Sheep in art French paintings Still life paintings Trompe-l'œil paintings Paintings about death {{18C-painting-stub