How different the reactions and emotions can be during a hunting trip is perfectly illustrated by the painting depicting three men standing side by side like a character study. 

The Piedmont painter Giovanni Battista Quadrone depicts three men and two dogs in the dim light during the hunt, repeatedly using one of his most frequent and popular motifs. Quadrone’s hunting scenes, which were among his most successful paintings in addition to his animal paintings, are often located in the Sardinian countryside, where the artist lived and worked regularly from the late 1870s.¹ Uccisa, ferita… mancata (Killed, Wounded… Missed) created in 1882, is still one of his earliest hunting scenes, but already falling into a phase of commercial promotion. In March 1876, Quadrone concluded an exclusive contract with Luigi Pisani.² The gallery owner Pisani promoted and supported Quadrone’s work, whose focus increasingly lay in genre painting with various motifs. The collaboration was fruitful and resulted in considerable achievements. In the 1890s, the last decade of his life, Quadrone was particularly successful. His works were increasingly represented abroad, for example in exhibitions in England, France, South America and in the Austro-Hungarian region. In 1896 and 1898, shortly before his early death due carcinosis, he reached the final round of the Premio degli Artisti at the Triennale in Turin.³ 

The work Uccisa, ferita… mancata alternatively operates under the title Morta? … Ferita? … Sbagliata!!! (Killed? … Wounded? … Missed!!!), as in the encompassing inventory catalogue on Quadrone.⁴ The labels on the back of the painting present the two titles right next to each other. Both terms refer to the various stages during a hunt: the animal is fatally injured, wounded or has escaped from death. The latter means a failure for the hunter, for the animal at least a shortterm life extension. How different the reactions and emotions can be during a hunting trip is perfectly illustrated by the painting depicting three men standing side by side like a character study. From a slight view from below, so that the pasty colour application for the rubble, soil and roots at the bottom of the picture is clearly visible, the viewer looks to the hunters, who pursue their activity in very different temper. The man in the middle opens his mouth in astonishment and gestures with an outstretched arm, pointing diagonally upwards, where he may have seen a particularly attractive prey. His dog follows his master’s gaze with a wagging tail. In stark contrast to the middle figure, who has bent his knees out of sheer excitement, stands the man on the right side. He seems to embody the epitome of “failure.” Frustrated and disillusioned, he put his hand to his forehead in disappointment after a missed shot. The hunter on the left-hand side is offered a small success by his loyal hunting dog; however, this does not seem to be the desired result. Mildly interested, the hunter takes the small bird brought by the dog, stretching his arm slightly tired and disinterested. 

Here, as in his many other hunting scenes, Quadrone is dedicated to the interaction between humans and animals and the juxtaposition of different movements, gestures and facial expressions, which contain a humorous undertone. In his portrayals of moods, however, the artist not only presents different personalities, but also different moments: while Il tempo minaccia (Time Threatens) (cat. p. 574) depicts the moment before the hunt and La Spacconata (The Stunt) (cat. p. 570) the relaxation after the hunt, in Uccisa, ferita… mancata, Quadrone captures the excitement and disappointment during an ongoing hunt. 

The small-scale genre painting is painted on a wooden panel, a material that was less common at the end of the 19th century, particularly due to increasingly produced industrial canvases. Since the middle of the 19th century, stretched and pre-primed canvases of various sizes had been available cost-effectively.⁵ Quadrone varies the supports and repeatedly refers to the classic wooden material as in the work Nello studio di un pittore (In a Painter’s Studio) (cat. p. 566). 

Veronica Peselmann 

¹ For a detailed biography see: Marini, in Turin 2012, pp. 175-205.

² Ibid., pp. 181-182; Marini 1998, vol. I, pp. 128-138.

³ Turin 2012, pp. 197-201.

⁴ Ibid., pp. 181-182, 209-210; Marini 1998, vol. I, p. 424.

⁵ Labreuche 2011, pp. 298-304.