A partridge, a hunting horn, hawking hoods and a gold-trimmed green velvet hunting bag hanging above a marble ledge

In addition to finely wrought still lifes with fruit, flowers and costly glass- and silverware, van Aelst specialised in game pieces. More than sixty such works survive today, with dated examples known between 1652 and 1681. The success of these works can be seen in how little van Aelst needed to alter his compositional formula over the course of some three decades of their production. As here, the artist tended to suspend one or more birds above a marble tabletop, a device that lends the paintings their verticality. Hunting paraphernalia – often some combination of a game bag, bird net, hunting horn, falcon’s hoods and quail pipes – surround the centrally placed game. Everything is set against a uniform dark background, which emphasises the artist’s striking light effects.

A native of Delft, van Aelst studied with his uncle, Evert van Aelst, before enrolling in the city’s painters’ guild on 9 November 1643. He travelled in France between 1645 and 1649 and worked in Florence, where he was court painter to Ferdinando II de’ Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany, between 1649 and 1656. Upon his return north, van Aelst typically signed his paintings – as in the present example – Guill[er]mo van Aelst in reference to the time he spent in Italy.