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The Birdwatchers
Also titled De vogelaars
Nicolaas Verkolje (Delft, 1673–1746)
c. 1744
- Medium
- panel, oil paint (paint)
- Classification
- painting
- Dimensions
- depth 4 cm
- Museum
- Rijksmuseum
- Credit line
- Purchase made possible by an anonymous bequest
- Rights
- Public Domain Mark, as the museum states it.
- Who can see it
- Little Ones profiles and older: it shows gentle subjects for the very young. How works are placed
About this work
The Birdwatchers and The Anglers, also on this wall, are both full of sexual allusions. While the mood in The Anglers is still cheerful and amorous, here the atmosphere is menacing. Birding is synonymous with making love; however, the consent does not seem to be mutual. One of the women is being assaulted, while the other two come to her aid. The bird the man forces on her was a well-known symbol for the male sex organ.
