Detail of The Tame Magpie by Magnasco in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, January 2022

Title: The Tame Magpie

Artist: Alessandro Magnasco (Italian, Genoa 1667–1749 Genoa)

Date: ca. 1707–8

Medium: Oil on canvas

Dimensions: 25 x 29 1/2 in. (63.5 x 74.9 cm)

Classification: Paintings

Credit Line: Purchase, Katherine D. W. Glover Gift, 1984

Accession Number: 1984.191


Magnasco's legacy resides in the exuberance of his technique and the fantasy of his subject matter. Here people from the fringes of society have gathered to watch the spectacle of a man trying to teach a magpie to sing—an impossible task. This painting was probably executed when Magnasco was working for the Medici in Florence and was in contact with Sebastiano Ricci.

Text from: www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/436935