Jean-Claude PIZZETTY (1832 – 1894), Hunting Trophy with Hare

Oil on canvas. Signed upper left. 62 × 75 cm.

A painter of still lifes and trompe-l’œil compositions, Jean-Claude Pizzetty — who, after 1881, adopted the signature “Claudius Pizzetta” — belongs to the French tradition descending from Chardin, attentive to light, texture, and the meticulous realism of surfaces. He developed a taste for hunting trophies in which precise observation meets a refined sense of composition.

This work depicts a hare hanging by one paw, accompanied by a partridge, a pigeon, and a kingfisher to the left. The faux-wood background and the carved moulding of the table’s edge create a convincingly illusionistic setting. The supple, luminous fur responds to the iridescence of the feathers; the soft pink tones of the flesh and the sheen of the plumage reveal an acute attention to detail. Warm lateral light animates the golden-brown tones and models the forms through a measured chiaroscuro.

Through this interplay between feather and fur, rigidity and softness, Pizzetty composes a scene that is both restrained and vibrant, where the precision of drawing merges with a rare tactile sensitivity. The painting stands as a fine example of his mastery of trompe-l’œil and of the nineteenth-century French naturalist tradition.