Lot 23: Jacobus Biltius (The Hague 1633-1681 Bergen op Zoom)

Jacobus Biltius (The Hague 1633-1681 Bergen op Zoom)
A trompe-l'oeil of an arms rack with a leading staff, a partizan, a matchlock musket, a longbow, a fowling piece with pistols, game bags, dead game and other instruments of the chase hanging on a wall
signed and dated 'J: biltius fecit 1665 ..' (lower centre) and signed 'J. Biltius' on the central musket
oil on canvas, unframed
71 x 181¾ in. (180.3 x 461.6 cm.)

Private collection, Tienen, Belgium from where purchased by the present owner.

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Jacobus Biltius was born in The Hague and moved to Maastricht in 1666 where he remained until 1670. The following year he is recorded as being a member of the guild in Antwerp.

Around the middle of the seventeenth century artists such as Jan Weenix, Melchior d'Hondecoeter and Jacobus Biltius all started to paint pictures to trick the eye, trompe-l'oeil paintings, most of which depicted game birds suspended on a hook against a monochrome background. The Dutch fascination for direct observation and accurate representation would have aided the development of this genre, particularly as birds hanging from nails were a common element in the Dutch domestic interior. While Biltius created numerous trompe l'oeil paintings between 1663 and 1675, mainly of gamebirds, it is his large-scale paintings of hunting gear, like the present work, that are considered his masterpieces.

A similar picture of smaller dimesions was sold Sotheby's, New York, 22 January 2004, lot 22 for $344,000.