Martin Ferdinand Quadal

With Galleria Pasti Bencini, Florence (as Attributed to Pedro Núñez de Villavicencio);

From whom acquired by Stanley Moss, 2009.

The late-eighteenth and early-nineteenth century painter Martin Ferdinand Quadal enjoyed a cosmopolitan and peripatetic career. After initially training at Vienna’s Akademie der bildenden Künste, he moved to Paris and in 1767 entered the studio of François Boucher. After achieving particular success in France, especially under the patronage of Louis Joseph, Prince de Condé, Quadal spent time in England, Italy, Germany, Holland, and even Saint Petersburg, where he joined the court of Emperor Paul I. Although particularly celebrated for his depictions of animals, Quadal also produced portraits and genre scenes distinguished by a sensitive observation of character and human interaction.

The composition centers on a boy carrying a rabbit and bird, likely a pheasant, that have been tied together and slung over her shoulder. Beside him stands a younger boy, perhaps his brother, while a dog looks up attentively, reinforcing the adolescent's quiet authority within the scene. In a gesture of artistic self-reflection, the children inspect a small sheet of paper inscribed with the artist’s signature, to which the boy points.