Artwork
Still Life with a Dead Hare and Fruit
Still Life with a Dead Hare and Fruit is an oil painting by the Rococo painting artist Alexandre-François Desportes. It dates from 1711 and is held in the collection of the Hermitage Museum.
About this work
Subject & Meaning
By juxtaposing perishable food with a lifeless animal, the work conveys themes of transience and the fleeting nature of material prosperity.
The painting presents a hare that has been slain, arranged alongside assorted fruit to create a composition that balances natural abundance with the inevitability of death. By juxtaposing perishable food with a lifeless animal, the work conveys themes of transience and the fleeting nature of material prosperity. The hare, a traditional emblem of fertility and vitality, takes on a funerary significance when depicted deceased, underscoring mortality.
Fruit, often symbolizing wealth and sensory pleasure, is rendered in a manner that heightens the sense of impermanence, inviting viewers to contemplate the ephemeral character of earthly pleasures.
The iconography unites secular and moralizing elements: the hare serves as a reminder of life's fragility, while the assorted fruit emphasizes sensory delight that ultimately yields to decay. This duality reflects the broader still‑life tradition of using ordinary objects to communicate deeper philosophical messages about existence and the passage of time.
Technique & Style
Still Life with a Dead Hare and Fruit is executed in oil paint on canvas, a medium and support consistent with Alexandre-François Desportes's standard practice for his still-life compositions. The work measures 115 by 99 cm and was produced in France in 1711.
Stylistically, the painting belongs to the still-life genre, depicting a dog, game, a rabbit, and fruit. Desportes's compositional approach typically combined hunted game with seasonal produce, presenting the dead hare alongside fruit in a manner characteristic of early eighteenth-century French still life.
History & Provenance
Still Life with a Dead Hare and Fruit was created by Alexandre-François Desportes in 1711, executed in oil paint on canvas in France. The painting is held in the collection of the Hermitage Museum, where it remains located. The sources do not provide further details regarding commission, intermediate ownership, or acquisition history prior to its entry into the Hermitage collection.
Alexandre-François Desportes' Still Life with a Dead Hare and Fruit is held in the collection of the Hermitage Museum in Saint Petersburg. The work, created in 1711, is an oil painting on canvas measuring 115 cm in height and 99 cm in width. It depicts game, including a rabbit and a dog, alongside fruit.
The provided sources identify the museum as the current location of the painting but do not list a specific inventory or accession number. Additionally, the available documentation contains no record of the work's exhibition history.
Legacy
Desportes' 1711 Still Life with a Dead Hare and Fruit, housed in the Hermitage Museum, established a precedent for combining naturalistic animal depiction with sumptuous fruit arrangements. The composition's emphasis on texture and chiaroscuro informed later French still-life painters, who adopted its balanced spatial design and attention to surface detail. Contemporary scholarship notes its role in shaping the genre's evolution toward more elaborate banquet scenes.
Overview
Created in 1711 by French artist Alexandre‑François Desportes, this oil painting presents a quiet tableau of a dead hare suspended from a branch, surrounded by fruit and a curious dog. The composition combines elements of still life and animal genre, reflecting the artist’s focus on natural subjects.
Context
The painting aligns with early Rococo sensibilities, favoring decorative detail and a light, contemplative atmosphere. It reflects the period’s interest in naturalism and the decorative integration of flora, fauna, and still‑life elements within a single composition.
Artist & collection
Artist
Alexandre-François Desportes (24 February 1661-20 April 1743) was a French painter and decorative designer who specialised in animals.
