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Hen Run at a Manor
Melchior d' Hondecoeter (Dutch, 1636–1695)
1651-1695
- Medium
- Oil on canvas
- Classification
- Painting
- Dimensions
- height 154.3 cm, width 183.5 cm, height 185 cm, width 215 cm
- Culture
- Dutch
- Museum
- SMK – National Gallery of Denmark
- Rights
- Public Domain Mark: SMK waives its rights in this photograph, 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
View at the SMK – National Gallery of Denmark
About this work
There is unrest in the gathering of birds. A peacock and an African black crowned crane are at odds, and the noise prompts a hen to gather her chicks around her. A cock and a small spaniel intervene, and in the background a southern cassowary completes the scene. In contrast to most older paintings of animals, it is unlikely that these birds are symbols of anything. Rather, the artist has tried to create a vivid and dynamic composition. Accurate and precise depictions of living animals and their behavior were unusual at this time. Melchior d'Hondecoeter was an expert on making large-scale paintings of exotic and more commonplace birds. The extensive trading of the 17th century meant that many rare animals, hitherto unknown to Europeans, were brought back to The Netherlands. If you were not quite wealthy and grand enough to have your own menagerie you could always decorate your home with paintings of such costly status symbols.
