Terms and conditions of use
The poultry yard
(late 17th century)
Medium
oil on canvas
Measurements
148.2 × 170.3 cm
Credit Line
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Felton Bequest, 1920
Gallery location
Rembrandt Cabinet
Level 2, NGV International
About this work
Nicknamed the ‘Raphael of birds’, Melchior d’Hondecoeter was the best-known bird painter of seventeenth-century Holland. His exotic menagerie scenes were much admired, but his most popular paintings were of domestic poultry yards, subtly overlaid with moralistic narratives. In this scene, ducks and chickens coexist in Arcadian harmony, but the peace has been suddenly shattered and panic is setting in. The cause is their sighting of a broken jug handle lying ‘innocently’ in the foreground. This item appears to be an improvised tool used in the killing of table birds, and it appears as a memento mori element in many poultry scenes.
Frame: English, 1920
Artwork Details
Inscription
inscribed in brown paint c.: M. D. Hondecoeter
Accession Number
1067-3
Department
International Painting
This digital record has been made available on NGV Collection Online through the generous support of Digitisation Champion Ms Carol Grigor through Metal Manufactures Limited
Subjects (general)
Animals
Subjects (specific)
bird (animal) chicken (species) chicks ducks (birds) feathers (animal components) poultry roosters (birds) turkey (genus)
Frame
English, 1920