Artwork
Birds in a Park
Birds in a Park is an oil painting by the Dutch Golden Age artist Melchior d' Hondecoeter. It dates from 1694 and is held in the collection of the Hermitage Museum.
About this work
Subject & Meaning
The painting shows a group of birds within a cultivated park setting, featuring a pelican alongside other avian species. This depiction functions as a naturalistic study of park life rather than an allegorical or symbolic scene, reflecting the artist's interest in recording birds in their recreational environment.
Technique & Style
The work is classified as a landscape painting and measures 135 cm in height by 155 cm in width.
Birds in a Park is an oil painting on canvas, executed by Melchior d'Hondecoeter in 1686. The work is classified as a landscape painting and measures 135 cm in height by 155 cm in width. The medium of oil paint on canvas is consistent with Hondecoeter's established practice of rendering detailed bird subjects within landscaped settings, with the canvas support providing a scale suited to the broad parkland scene depicted.
History & Provenance
Birds in a Park is an oil painting by Melchior d'Hondecoeter, dated to 1686 and produced in the Netherlands. The work entered the Hermitage Museum collection, where it is inventoried as ГЭ-1042. It was included in the exhibition "Dutch masters from the Hermitage," as recorded in its exhibition history.
The painting, executed in oil on canvas, depicts birds including a pelican within a park setting, consistent with Hondecoeter's landscape genre. No additional provenance details, prior owners, or commission records are documented in the available sources.
The painting's documented ownership chain begins with its creation in 1686 and continues through its presence in the Hermitage Museum collection, where it remains held.
Melchior d'Hondecoeter's painting Birds in a Park, dated 1686, is held in the collection of the Hermitage Museum in the Netherlands. The work is cataloged under the accession number ГЭ-1042. It has been included in the exhibition titled Dutch masters from the Hermitage.
Overview
Created in 1694, Birds in a Park is an oil on canvas by the Dutch painter Melchior d’Hondecoeter. Executed during the later phase of the Dutch Golden Age, the work assembles a variety of waterfowl and domestic birds within a landscaped setting. The composition is now part of the State Hermitage Museum’s permanent collection.
Artist & collection
Artist
Melchior d'Hondecoeter (Dutch pronunciation:; c. 1636 – 3 April 1695), Dutch animalier painter, was born in Utrecht and died in Amsterdam. After the start of his career, he painted virtually exclusively bird subjects,…
