(Carniola and Lombardy, active in the 16th century)
A man wearing a fur trimmed Polish hat, holding a firearm,
oil on canvas, 74 x 62.5 cm, framed

We are grateful to Mauro Lucco for suggesting the attribution of the present painting.

The young hunter represented in this painting is shown holding a rifle and wearing a fur trimmed hat in the Polish fashion. The individual represented can be compared to various works attributed to this enigmatic artist active in Slovenia and Lombardy, identified by the moniker Almanach. As well as the Farmhand’s family in the National Gallery, Ljubljana (inv. no. NG S 1112), attributed to the artist by Federico Zeri (F. Zeri, Tuji Slikarji od 14. do 20. Stoletja, Ljubljana 1983, pp. 162-163), the present painting is comparable to other mature works by Almanach datable to the 1680s, among which the Portrait of Antonio Lazari, in the Franciscan convent, Ljubljana and the Old washer woman in the Bruckenthal Museum, Sibiu, Romania (inv. no. 1260).

Little is known of this anonymous artist. His moniker, Almanach, accompanied by the date 1675, appears for example in a still life in the National Gallery, Ljubljana (inv. no. NG S 3062). Possibly apprenticed to Wouter Pietersz Crabetg II, Almanach is documented in the province of Carniola in 1689 where he may have remained active into the early eighteenth century, although there are strong affinites between his work, and contemporary genre painting in Lombardy (see: K. Rozman, Slikar Almanach: Odkupljena slika Kvartopirci II, Ljubljana 1996). The artist is recorded by Janez Vajkard Valvasor as the ‘famous’ author of the frescoes in the castles of Bokalce, Iški Turn and in the refectory of the aforementioned Franciscan convent in the Slovenian capital.