Melchior de Hondecoeter

(Utrecht, 1636 - Amsterdam, 1695)

Melchior de Hondecoeter (1636-1695) was a Flemish painter, engraver, and decorator specializing in still lifes and animals. He began his training early in the workshop of his father, Gijsbert de Hondecoeter, and then continued in that of Jan Baptist Weenix. He later achieved great success, creating many paintings for the noble homes and country residences of the Dutch aristocracy. Among the most recurring subjects in his work were undoubtedly birds, expertly captured both in the rendering of their plumage and in the attention to their varied postures. This, of course, is also evident in our painting, which, along with the chromatic taste, highlights the variety and characterization of the subjects' poses. The attribution to de Hondecoeter is also supported by the painting's composition: it is based on a recurring structure employed several times by the painter, constructed by distributing the various figures evenly across the frontal plane and elevating one (in this case the twisting hen) on the right (often, as in this case, by inserting a square rock or architectural element on which to rest the figure). In this sense, it is possible to compare the work with the Landscape with Poultry housed in the Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza in Madrid or with numerous other paintings associated with private collections.