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Lot Essay
Coming from a highly artistic family, Melchior d'Hondecoeter received his first lessons in painting from his father Gijsbert in the family's Utrecht studio. When his father, a celebrated bird painter, passed away in 1653, Melchior continued his education with his uncle Jan Baptist Weenix. Both tutors had an important influence on the young artist and it is not surprising that the talented Melchior followed in his father's and uncle's footsteps and also specialised in painting birds.
Melchior d'Hondecoeter was a particularly gifted observer of animals who excelled at the depiction of the movement of birds, as with the flying pigeon in the present picture. According to Arnold Houbraken, in his Groote Schouburgh, the artist could train a rooster to hold any desired pose. This particular work depicts a chicken watching over her four chicks together with two pigeons near a rock underneath a tree. The landscape functions as a setting for the birds only. D'Hondecoeter used one of his favourite compositional techniques for animating the picture: he painted the birds up close and allowed the plants to be cut off along the edges to create a greater sense of naturalism.
Melchior d'Hondecoeter was a particularly gifted observer of animals who excelled at the depiction of the movement of birds, as with the flying pigeon in the present picture. According to Arnold Houbraken, in his Groote Schouburgh, the artist could train a rooster to hold any desired pose. This particular work depicts a chicken watching over her four chicks together with two pigeons near a rock underneath a tree. The landscape functions as a setting for the birds only. D'Hondecoeter used one of his favourite compositional techniques for animating the picture: he painted the birds up close and allowed the plants to be cut off along the edges to create a greater sense of naturalism.