![Jacopo de' Barbari (Signatur)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9a/Jacopo_de%27_Barbari_%28Signatur%29.jpg)
''Still-Life with Partridge and Gauntlets'' is a 1504 painting by the Italian painter
Jacopo de' Barbari
Jacopo de' Barbari, sometimes known or referred to as de'Barbari, de Barberi, de Barbari, Barbaro, Barberino, Barbarigo or Barberigo (c. 1460/70 – before 1516), was an Italian painter, printmaker and miniaturist with a highly individual style. ...
. It measures and is held by the
Alte Pinakothek
The Alte Pinakothek (, ''Old Pinakothek'') is an art museum located in the Kunstareal area in Munich, Germany. It is one of the oldest galleries in the world and houses a significant collection of Old Master paintings. The name Alte (Old) Pinak ...
in Munich. The small
oil
An oil is any nonpolar chemical substance that is composed primarily of hydrocarbons and is hydrophobic (does not mix with water) & lipophilic (mixes with other oils). Oils are usually flammable and surface active. Most oils are unsaturated ...
-on-
limewood
''Tilia'' is a genus of about 30 species of trees or bushes, native throughout most of the temperate Northern Hemisphere. The tree is known as linden for the European species, and basswood for North American species. In Britain and Ireland they ...
-
panel painting
A panel painting is a painting made on a flat panel of wood, either a single piece or a number of pieces joined together. Until canvas became the more popular support medium in the 16th century, panel painting was the normal method, when not paint ...
is considered to be one of the earliest examples of a
still life
A still life (plural: still lifes) is a work of art depicting mostly wikt:inanimate, inanimate subject matter, typically commonplace objects which are either natural (food, flowers, dead animals, plants, rocks, shells, etc.) or artificiality, m ...
painting, and one of the first
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 ...
paintings, to be made in Europe since
classical antiquity
Classical antiquity (also the classical era, classical period or classical age) is the period of cultural history between the 8th century BC and the 5th century AD centred on the Mediterranean Sea, comprising the interlocking civilizations of ...
.
The painting depicts a dead
grey partridge
The grey partridge (''Perdix perdix''), also known as the gray-legged partridge, English partridge, Hungarian partridge, or hun, is a gamebird in the pheasant family Phasianidae of the order Galliformes, gallinaceous birds. The scientific name ...
, with two iron
gauntlets, and a
crossbow bolt
A bolt or quarrel is a dart-like projectile used by crossbows. The name "quarrel" is derived from the French word ''carré'', meaning square, referring to their typically square heads. Although their lengths vary, bolts are typically shorter an ...
passing through them. The set of objects appears as if it is lying on top of a wooden table or hanging from a nail against a wooden wall. To the lower right is a scrap of paper with the date and the painter's signature, and a drawing of
caduceus
The caduceus (☤; ; la, cādūceus, from grc-gre, κηρύκειον "herald's wand, or staff") is the staff carried by Hermes in Greek mythology and consequently by Hermes Trismegistus in Greco-Egyptian mythology. The same staff was also ...
, a symbol used by Jacopo de' Barbari. It is painted on a panel of
linden wood, with the background painted to imitate
wood grain
Wood grain is the longitudinal arrangement of wood fibers or the pattern resulting from such an arrangement.
Definition and meanings
R. Bruce Hoadley wrote that ''grain'' is a "confusingly versatile term" with numerous different uses, including ...
. The panel may have been made as the back or the hinged cover for a portrait, or as an amusing decoration for a hunting room. It is held by the Alte Pinakothek, and has been in the
Bavarian State Painting Collections
The Bavarian State Painting Collections (german: Bayerische Staatsgemäldesammlungen), based in Munich, Germany, oversees artwork held by the Free State of Bavaria. It was established in 1799 as ''Centralgemäldegaleriedirektion''. Artwork includes ...
since 1804, before which it was held at the
Schloss Neuburg
''Schloss'' (; pl. ''Schlösser''), formerly written ''Schloß'', is the German term for a building similar to a château, palace, or manor house.
Related terms appear in several Germanic languages. In the Scandinavian languages, the cogna ...
since at least 1764.
The
British Museum
The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docum ...
holds a similar drawing of a dead grey partridge by Jacopo de' Barbari, also dated to 1504, from the collection of Sir
Hans Sloane
Sir Hans Sloane, 1st Baronet (16 April 1660 – 11 January 1753), was an Irish physician, naturalist, and collector, with a collection of 71,000 items which he bequeathed to the British nation, thus providing the foundation of the British Mu ...
.
See also
* ''
Two Venetian Ladies
''Two Venetian Ladies'' is an oil on panel painting by the Italian Renaissance artist Vittore Carpaccio.
The painting, believed to be a quarter of the original work, was executed around 1490 and shows two unknown Venetian ladies. The top portio ...
'', a 1490 painting by
Vittore Carpaccio
Vittore Carpaccio (British English, UK: Help:IPA/English, /kɑːrˈpætʃ(i)oʊ/, American English, US: Help:IPA/English, /-ˈpɑːtʃ-/, Italian: Help:IPA/Italian, itˈtoːre karˈpattʃo c. 1460/66 – 1525/26) was an Italians, Italian pai ...
with a trompe-l'œil letter rack painted on the back: another candidate for the first trompe-l'œil painting since antiquity
References
{{commons category, Still-Life with Partridge and Iron Gloves (Jacopo de' Barbari)
''Totes Rebhuhn mit Eisenhandschuhen und Armbrustbolzen'' Bayerische Staatsgemäldesammlungen
Web Gallery of Art
Study of a dead grey partridge British Museum
1504 paintings
Still life paintings
Collection of the Alte Pinakothek
Trompe-l'œil paintings
Birds in art
Death in art