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Willem van Aelst, 'Still Life with Partridges', 1671

About the work

Overview

Van Aelst depicts suspended partridges, one of them resting on a gold-trimmed green velvet hunter’s pouch that lies on a stone ledge. A fly has just landed on the partridge’s wing, a detail that serves to heighten the still life’s illusionistic qualities. But the picture is perhaps above all an exercise in painting different textures. Van Aelst has deliberately contrasted the softness of the feathers and the smooth velvet of the pouch with the hard and shiny surfaces of the pouch’s metal frame, the hunting horn above it and the cold stone of the marble ledge underneath, making sure we can be in no doubt about his superlative skills as a painter.

In the 18th century this painting belonged to William V, Prince of Orange and the last Stadtholder of the Dutch Republic.

Key facts

Details

Full title
Still Life with Partridges
Artist dates
1627 - 1683
Date made
1671
Medium and support
Oil on canvas
Dimensions
58.8 × 47.8 cm
Inscription summary
signed; dated and inscribed
Acquisition credit
On loan from the Royal Picture Gallery Mauritshuis, The Hague
Inventory number
L1281
Location
Room 28
Image copyright
On loan from the Royal Picture Gallery Mauritshuis, The Hague, © Maurtishuis, The Hague
Collection
Main Collection

About this record

If you know more about this painting or have spotted an error, please contact us. Please note that exhibition histories are listed from 2009 onwards. Bibliographies may not be complete; more comprehensive information is available in the National Gallery Library.

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