Alessandro Magnasco (Italian,Genoa),The Tame Magpie,ca.1708-09,oil on paint
The reputation of Magnasco,one of the most individual eighteenth-century painters,resides in the exuberance of his of his technique and the fantasy of his subject matter.Here people from the fringes of society have gathered to watch the spectacle of a man trying to teach a magpie to sing-an impossible task.The picture was probably painted when Magnasco was working for the Medici in Florence and was in contact with Sebastiano Ricci-the MET
Alessandro Magnasco (Italian,Genoa),The Tame Magpie,ca.1708-09,oil on paint
The reputation of Magnasco,one of the most individual eighteenth-century painters,resides in the exuberance of his of his technique and the fantasy of his subject matter.Here people from the fringes of society have gathered to watch the spectacle of a man trying to teach a magpie to sing-an impossible task.The picture was probably painted when Magnasco was working for the Medici in Florence and was in contact with Sebastiano Ricci-the MET