Antique Painting School of Giacomo Francesco Cipper XVIII Century

Oil on canvas. The painting's pictorial style and subject matter are reminiscent of the circle of Giacomo Francesco Cipper, known as Todeschini, an artist of Austrian origin who established himself in Milan. He specialized in market scenes, open-air concerts, card players, and scenes of humble daily life, rendered with playful caricature and a search for comic effect. This is the case in this work, which portrays a young commoner tending to two chickens placed in a basket on the table, even though the knife lying beside him suggests he's about to sacrifice them! Cipper's characters, though humble, are characterized by an impertinent nature, manifested by their fixed gazes on the viewer, attracting their attention. This is also true in this case: the boy stares ahead, laughing and winking, seeking the viewer's approval or even complicity. The work can therefore be attributed to an artist very close to Cipper. It has been restored and relined in the past. It is presented in an early 20th-century guilloche frame.