Lot 1602 D α

In his expertise, Professor Alberto Cottino describes this recently published work as a remarkable new addition to the relatively small oeuvre of the Florentine painter Pietro Neri Scacciati ("una notevole acquisizione all'ancora relativamente esiguo corpus di opere di Pietro Neri Scacciati"). The work depicts a landscape view with a tree stump and a rocky plateau in earthy tones populated by a variety of birds, including a goose, a pheasant, and a woodcock in the right edge of the image. His exceptional talent for the precise depiction of birds made Scacciati one of the most sought-after animal painters at the court of the Medici grand dukes in Florence, alongside Bartolomeo Bimbi. Although little is known about his life, we can assume that he trained under his father, the still life painter Andrea Scacciati. He later became director of the “Opificio delle Pietre Dure”, the famous hardstone carving workshop established by Grand Duke Ferdinando de' Medici in 1588. For more information on this artist, see: M. M. Sinari: Pietro Neri Scacciati, in: La natura morta in Italia, 2 vols., Milan 1989, p. 597-599.