Still Life with a Dead Hare

Libalt probably went to the Netherlands for his art training and was influenced by the work of Jan Fyt (1611-1661). Although the artist also painted landscapes, portraits and religious images, his output - notably his still-life paintings - represent a breakthrough in Central Europe. He specialized in decorative still-lifes picturing lavish objects and so-called „kitchen scenes“ that featured foodstuffs, fruit, vegetables, dead poultry and venison. The earliest known works by Libalt are dated to 1642 and combine motifs of dead game, birds and fruit and vegetables. The signed paintings from the National Gallery Prague were produced in 1643. In the 1650s and sixties, Libalt lived and worked in Vienna. He worked, for example, for Karl Eusebius, Prince of Liechtenstein. He executed a great many commissions for Bohemian aristocratic patrons, for which his works are well represented in art collections in Bohemia and Moravia. In his art production, he conveyed this type of still life to Central European artists.