Artwork
A Woman Feeding a Parrot, with a Page
A Woman Feeding a Parrot, with a Page is an oil painting by the Baroque artist Caspar Netscher. It dates from 1666 and is held in the collection of the National Gallery of Art.
- Inscription
- Inscribed:lower left, the CN in monogram: CNetscher .Ao. / 16.66
About this work
Technique & Style
The artist produced seven known versions of this subject, creating attribution complexities that were noted during the work's modern restitution process.
Executed in 1666, this work is an oil painting on canvas measuring 46 by 37 centimeters. The composition depicts a young woman at a window feeding a grey parrot perched on her right index finger, while her gaze engages the viewer. A round birdcage rests on the left windowsill, which is draped with a carpet on the right side.
In the background, a male domestic servant holds a round tray. The artist produced seven known versions of this subject, creating attribution complexities that were noted during the work's modern restitution process. The specific handling of light and the arrangement of figures within the domestic interior exemplify Netscher's genre style during this period.
History & Provenance
Caspar Netscher completed this oil painting in 1666. The artist retained the work until 1674, when Gerrit Uylenburgh purchased it in Amsterdam for 140 guilders. By April 1675, it was consigned to Sir Peter Lely in London.
The painting subsequently entered the collection of Elector Palatine Johann Wilhelm II in Düsseldorf, passing via inheritance to Karl III Philipp and later Karl Theodor. It moved with the royal collections to Mannheim and Munich, entering the Alte Pinakothek in 1836. In 1936, the museum traded the work to dealers Julius Böhler and others for a painting by Giuseppe Maria Crespi.
Sold to dealer D. Katz in 1937, it was acquired by Hugo and Elisabeth Andriesse by 1938. Confiscated by the Nazi ERR in 1942, the work was restituted to the Andriesse heirs in 2014 following a donation to the Von der Heydt-Museum by Rudolf Ziersch in 1952. After a 2014 auction at Christie's, the National Gallery of Art purchased the piece in October 2016.
The painting A Woman Feeding a Parrot, with a Page (1666) by Caspar Netscher is presently in the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., where it entered the collection in 2016 after being restituted to the heirs of Hugo and Elisabeth Andriesse and subsequently sold at auction. Its accession is recorded by the museum as part of the modern acquisitions of the National Gallery of Art, though the precise inventory number is not published in the available sources. The work was included in the exhibition "Vermeer and the Masters of Genre Painting: Inspiration and Rivalry," which highlighted its significance within 17th‑century genre painting.
Context
Caspar Netscher's 1666 painting belongs to a broader category of Dutch genre scenes that have received sustained art-historical attention, particularly through exhibitions examining the interplay between Netscher and Vermeer. The work featured in "Vermeer and the Masters of Genre Painting: Inspiration and Rivalry," situating it within scholarship on seventeenth-century genre painting and the rivalries among its practitioners. Netscher's compositional formula proved sufficiently popular that he produced seven versions of the subject, a fact that has complicated attribution and provenance research.
The painting's twentieth-century history, including Nazi-era confiscation, post-war restitution proceedings, and its 2014 return to the heirs of Hugo and Elisabeth Andriesse followed by its 2016 acquisition by the National Gallery of Art, has also placed it within the wider scholarly discourse on Nazi-era art looting and provenance investigation, with the Von der Heydt-Museum's director noting that the work effectively belonged to the Alte Pinakothek.
Overview
Caspar Netscher's painting, "A Woman Feeding a Parrot, with a Page," created in 1666, depicts an elegantly dressed woman interacting with a parrot, attended by a young page. This oil on panel work showcases the artist's refined style and attention to detail. Since 2016, the artwork has been part of the collection at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., where it represents a notable example of Dutch Golden Age genre painting.
Subject & Meaning
The central focus of the composition is a woman, richly attired, gently offering food to a parrot perched on her hand. Her gaze is directed towards the bird, suggesting a moment of intimate connection. Beside her, a young page stands, his attention diverted elsewhere, creating a subtle narrative tension.
This secondary figure introduces an element of human interaction beyond the primary subject, adding depth to the domestic scene.
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Artist & collection
Artist
Caspar Netscher was a Dutch painter. He was a master in depicting oriental rugs, silk and brocade and introduced an international style to the Northern Netherlands.
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