HONDECOETER, Melchior d'
(b. 1636, Utrecht, d. 1695, Amsterdam)

Birds in a Park

1686
Oil on canvas, 135 x 155 cm
The Hermitage, St. Petersburg

Melchior d'Hondecoeter developed his own genre with paintings of live animals. Within these a wide variety of bird-life struts and flies around including wild, domestic and exotic ducks, geese and hens. He also tried to characterize the typical behaviour of these diverse birds. He even went as far as to create animal stories with his cockfights, squabbles over food and threatening birds of prey.




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