Still Life with Hawks
Author: Unknown
Origin: Unknown
Dating: 18th century
Material: Oil on Canvas
Dimensions (cm): 66 x 78
Inv. no.: PNA213 / PNA66696 / PD0728dep
In this predominantly dark painting, there are two falcons hanging by the neck, as well as other birds on what seems to be a table. In the background there is a hardly seen mountainous landscape.
Still-life paintings portray inanimate objects such as flowers, fruit, vegetables or animals. Still-life paintings arose in the Netherlands during the second half of the 17th century to satisfy the tastes of a prominent middle class who wanted to be portrayed in historical or religious paintings. Although it was considered (as in Landscape and Animal paintings) to be a less important subject for art, the still-life paintings quickly became really known and recognized all over Europe. The apogee of this Art form was in the second half of the 17th century and well into the 18th century. However, the decadence of this artistic movement happened in the 19th century.
