Jacopo Chimenti, called Jacopo da Empoli Florence 1551 - 1640

Jacopo Chimenti, more commonly known as Jacopo da Empoli after the town from which his family came, was born in Florence in 1551 and was first apprenticed in Maso da San Friano's workshop there. He is principally known as a religious painter and was extremely active in Florence, particularly towards the end of the 16th century until his death in 1640. He is thought to have painted still lifes only from the 1620s or '30s and the earliest known still lifes are those dated 1621 and 1624 in the Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence, and that dated 1625 in the Molinari Pradelli collection, Bologna (A. Marabottini, Jacopo Chimenti da Empoli, Rome 1988, pp. 258-59, cat. nos. 107, 108, and 110 respecitvely, all reproduced). The present work, with its inclusion of the young man holding up the dead hare, is likely to date from the 1620s.