Johannes Leemans

Johannes Leemans is believed to have spent his entire life in The Hague, where he was also active as a wine merchant. Johannes and his brother Anthonius specialised in painting trompe l'œil hunting still lifes usually featuring, as here, a game bag, a horn, whistles on ribbons and a caged bird displayed in a perfectly symmetrical composition against a plain background. This genre was very popular in The Hague in the seventeenth century, perhaps due to its forest surroundings which where popular hunting-grounds. Leemans' paintings can be dated to the period between 1664 and 1686, and whilst his œuvre shows few signs of change over the years, his compositions are almost never the same, and inform us in great detail on hunting gear in the seventeenth century.