Domestic Fowl in a Landscape

Franz van Severdonck 1809 - 1889

Summary

Franz van Severdonck was a specialist painter of animals and birds, who worked in the style of still life and animal painting of the 1600s. This typical example contains a mixture of wild and domestic species. A cockerel dominates the scene, his fine plumage rising above the skyline in the centre of the painting. To his right, facing him (in the traditional placing for female figures in Dutch and Flemish portraiture), are three hens of different breeds. At their feet five chicks scratch at the ground, while one pecks at food in a tin tray. On the left and right respectively, a pair of mallard ducks and a pair of pigeons balance and complete the scene. The low horizon encourages us to look upward to a fine evening sky. Severdonck lived and worked in Brussels. The glossy feathers and high finish on the earthenware dishes recall the exquisitely fine, almost invisible brushwork of the Golden Age Fijnschilders (fine painters).