Lot 460: Heinrich Lihl (Schlackenwerth, Bohemia 1690-1756 Rastatt)

A cat on a draped table
Oil on canvas
35 x 44 1/2 in. (89 x 113 cm.)

Schloss Baden, Inventory S.283, no. 56.
G.F. Kircher, Zahringer Bildnissammlung, Im Neuen Schloss zu Baden-Baden, Karlsruhe, 1958, S. 179, no. 914.

Markgrafen und Grossherzöge von Baden, Schloss Baden, nr.56; Sotheby's, on the premises, 10-14 October 1995, lot 2327.

Heinrich Lihl began his career as an animal painter in his native town of Schlackenwerth in Bohemia. His father was a gardener at Schloss Baden and it was probably through him that Heinrich gained an introduction to the Margrave of Baden Baden. He was appointed court painter in 1714 and worked for the family for the rest of his life.

Although Lihl did paint portraits of members of the family as well as overdoors amd large wall decorations, he is best known for his striking paintings of animals and birds. Some of these were painted as hunting trophies for the Margraves, others, as in the present example, as portraits of the animals and pets kept in their menagerie at Ettlingen.

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