Deer, ducks, a rabbit, a spoonbill and other animals in a landscape

Carl Borromäus Andreas Ruthart was a German animal painter trained in the tradition of Jan Fyt and Frans Snyders. He is known for compositions such as the present work, featuring a wide variety of animals in motion and at rest, depicted in his characteristic cool palette and with a remarkable understanding of the textures of feathers and fur. The animals he includes are readily identifiable and native to Western Europe, such as the Common Spoonbill and fallow deer. Ruthart worked for Prince Charles Eusebius of Liechtenstein in Vienna in the mid-1660s before traveling to Italy, spending the remainder of his life painting for the monastery in L'Aquila.