A Cat Trying to Steal a Fish
circa 1730, oil, canvas, 90 x 129,5 cm
ZDS1993003, ALU, Ljubljana
As regards both composition and brushwork this painting is characteristic of Giovanni Crivelli. It should be dated to around 1730, when the artist was still working with Felice Boselli in Parma. A painting closely related to this one as regards the motif and the technique was once in the Castello Visconti in Cernusco sul Naviglio (Milan).
Restored: Date unknown; 1981, Štefan Hauko.
Provenance: Collection of the Counts of Attems, Slovenska Bistrica; confiscated and taken to the FCC in 1945, No. 6424 (in the FCC register, p. 207, No. 6424, the size is given as 130 x 90 cm); 1951 entrusted to the ALU for its planned gallery; 1994 transferred to the Narodna galerija for exhibition.
Exhibitions: 1960, Ljubljana, No. 107; 1983, Ljubljana, No. 43; 1985 Belgrade, No. 27; 1989, Ljubljana, No. 13.
Lit.: Cevc 1960, p. 40, Cat. No. 107 (Dutch, 17C); Zeri [& Rozman] 1983, p. 126, Cat. No. 43, Fig. 40; Zeri and Rozman 1989, pp. 89, 118, Cat. No. 13, Fig. 15; Settecento II, 1990, p. 687 (text Vittorio Caprara); Arisi 1995, pp. 349, 353, Fig. 467.