Jan Fyt (1611-1661), the Flemish painter and etcher, was especially skilled at depicting animals and still life. He was born in Antwerp and studied principally with Frans Synders, the greatest of Flemish animal and still-life painters.
Fyt travelled and worked for ten years in France, Holland, and Italy before returning to Antwerp in 1643. His work is characterized by extreme realism in the depiction of the textures of fur and plumage, as well as by harmonious color and, frequently, bold and dramatic action. His favourite subjects included dogs, as for example, “Wolves Attacked by Dogs” (1652, National Gallery, Oslo), and dead game.