Melchior d'Hondecoeter (; 1636 – 3 April 1695),

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

animalier An animalier (, ) is an artist, mainly from the 19th century, who specializes in, or is known for, skill in the realistic portrayal of animals. "Animal painter" is the more general term for earlier artists. Although the work may be in any genre ...

painter, was born in

Utrecht Utrecht ( , , ) is the List of cities in the Netherlands by province, fourth-largest city and a List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality of the Netherlands, capital and most populous city of the Provinces of the Netherlands, pro ...

and died in

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...

. After the start of his career, he painted virtually exclusively bird subjects, usually exotic or game, in park-like landscapes. Hondecoeter's paintings featured geese (

brent goose The brant or brent goose (''Branta bernicla'') is a small goose of the genus '' Branta''. There are three subspecies, all of which winter along temperate-zone sea-coasts and breed on the high-Arctic tundra. The Brent oilfield was named after ...

Egyptian goose The Egyptian goose (''Alopochen aegyptiaca'') is a member of the duck, goose, and swan family Anatidae. It is native to Africa south of the Sahara and the Nile Valley. Egyptian geese were considered sacred by the Ancient Egyptians, and appear ...

and red-breasted goose),

fieldfare The fieldfare (''Turdus pilaris'') is a member of the thrush family Turdidae. It breeds in woodland and scrub in northern Europe and across the Palearctic. It is strongly migratory, with many northern birds moving south during the winter. It i ...

s, partridges, pigeons, ducks,

northern cardinal The northern cardinal (''Cardinalis cardinalis'') is a bird in the genus ''Cardinalis''; it is also known colloquially as the redbird, common cardinal, red cardinal, or just cardinal (which was its name prior to 1985). It can be found in southea ...

, magpies and peacocks, but also African

grey crowned crane The grey crowned crane (''Balearica regulorum''), also known as the African crowned crane, golden crested crane, golden crowned crane, East African crane, East African crowned crane, African crane, Eastern crowned crane, Kavirondo crane, South ...

s, Asian sarus cranes, Indonesian

yellow-crested cockatoo The yellow-crested cockatoo (''Cacatua sulphurea'') also known as the lesser sulphur-crested cockatoo, is a medium-sized (about 34-cm-long) cockatoo with white plumage, bluish-white bare orbital skin, grey feet, a black bill, and a retractile y ...

s, an Indonesian

purple-naped lory The purple-naped lory (''Lorius domicella'') is a species of parrot in the family Psittaculidae. It is forest-dwelling endemic to the islands of Seram, Ambon, and perhaps also Haruku and Saparua, South Maluku, Indonesia. It is considered endan ...

and

grey-headed lovebird The gray-headed lovebird or Madagascar lovebird (''Agapornis canus'') is a small species of parrot of the lovebird genus. It is a mainly green parrot. The species is sexually dimorphic and only the adult male has grey on its upper body. They are ...

s from

Madagascar Madagascar (; mg, Madagasikara, ), officially the Republic of Madagascar ( mg, Repoblikan'i Madagasikara, links=no, ; french: République de Madagascar), is an island country in the Indian Ocean, approximately off the coast of East Africa ...

Biography

Being the grandson of the painter

Gillis d'Hondecoeter Gillis Claesz. de Hondecoeter or d'Hondecoeter (c. 1575-1580 – buried 17 October 1638) was a Dutch painter, working in a Flemish style, painting landscapes, trees, fowl and birds. Later on d'Hondecoeter painted in a more Dutch, realist ...

and the son of

Gijsbert d'Hondecoeter Gijsbert d'Hondecoeter (1604 – 29 August 1653) was a Dutch landscape and animalier painter. Hondecoeter belonged to a family of painters. His father was Gillis d'Hondecoeter and his son was Melchior d'Hondecoeter. Hondecoeter primarily pa ...

, whose sister Josina married

Jan Baptist Weenix Jan Baptist Weenix, also spelled Jan Baptiste Weeninx (1621–c. 1659) was a painter of the Dutch Golden Age. Despite his relatively brief career, he was a very productive and versatile painter. His favourite subjects were Italian land ...

, he was brought up in an artistic milieu.Melchior Hondecoeter
in Houbraken's ''Schouwburg'' Melchior's cousin

Jan Weenix Jan Weenix or Joannis Wenix (between 1641/164919 September 1719 (buried)) was a Dutch painter. He was trained by his father, Jan Baptist Weenix, together with his cousin Melchior d'Hondecoeter. Like his father, he painted various subjects, but ...

told

Arnold Houbraken Arnold Houbraken (28 March 1660 – 14 October 1719) was a Dutch painter and writer from Dordrecht, now remembered mainly as a biographer of Dutch Golden Age painters. Life Houbraken was sent first to learn ''threadtwisting'' (Twyndraat) fr ...

that in his youth Melchior was extremely religious, praying very loud, so that his mother and uncle doubted whether they would have him trained as a

painter Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called the "matrix" or "support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush, but other implements, such as knives, sponges, and ai ...

or a minister. In 1659, he was working in

The Hague The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a city and municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's administrative centre and its seat of government, and while the official capital of ...

and became a member of

Confrerie Pictura The Confrerie Pictura was a more or less academic club of artists founded in 1656 in The Hague (the Netherlands) by local art painters, who were unsatisfied by the Guild of Saint Luke there. History The guild of St. Luke in the Hague existed a ...

, the painters' academy of that town. In 1663, Hondecoeter married Susanne Tradel from Amsterdam. She lived on the

Lauriergracht The Lauriergracht (; literally "Laurel Canal") is one of the canals of Amsterdam, located in the Jordaan, west of the Grachtengordel. History and inhabitants It was painted and photographed by George Hendrik Breitner who set up a studio on the ...

, and was thirty when they married. The couple had two children, baptized in 1666 and 1668. She is said to have been captious, and had her sisters living in the house. According to Houbraken, Hondecoeter spent much time in his garden or drinking in the tavern in the

Jordaan The Jordaan is a neighbourhood of the city of Amsterdam, Netherlands. It is part of the borough of Amsterdam-Centrum. The area is bordered by the Singelgracht canal and the neighbourhood of Frederik Hendrikbuurt to the west; the Prinsengracht to ...

. On the Lauriergracht he was surrounded by art dealers and various painters. Later he moved to a house on the

Leliegracht The Leliegracht (; Lily Canal) is a canal in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, between Herengracht (no. 148 and 169) and Prinsengracht (no. 124 and 241). The canal lies within the western Grachtengordel (canal belt) in the Jordaan neighborhood of the A ...

(near the present

Anne Frank House The Anne Frank House ( nl, Anne Frank Huis) is a writer's house and biographical museum dedicated to Jewish wartime diarist Anne Frank. The building is located on a canal called the Prinsengracht, close to the Westerkerk, in central Amsterdam ...

). In 1692, his wife died. Hondecoeter lived in the house of his daughter Isabel in the

Warmoesstraat Warmoesstraat ('Chard Street') is one of the oldest streets in Amsterdam, running parallel to Damrak from Nieuwebrugsteeg to Dam Square. Its origins are in the 13th century. In the 16th and 17th century it was the shopping street. During the Dut ...

, but was buried in the

Westerkerk The Westerkerk (; en, Western Church) is a Reformed church within Dutch Protestant Calvinism in central Amsterdam, Netherlands. It lies in the most western part of the Grachtengordel neighborhood ( Centrum borough), next to the Jordaan, betwe ...

. He left his daughter with substantial debts. His inventory lists a small

gallows A gallows (or scaffold) is a frame or elevated beam, typically wooden, from which objects can be suspended (i.e., hung) or "weighed". Gallows were thus widely used to suspend public weighing scales for large and heavy objects such as sacks ...

, to keep birds in the right position, and seven paintings of

Frans Snyders Frans Snyders or Frans Snijders (11 November 1579, Antwerp – 19 August 1657, Antwerp) was a Flemish painter of animals, hunting scenes, market scenes and still lifes. He was one of the earliest specialist animaliers and he is credited with ...

. Hondecoeter began his career with a different speciality from that by which he is usually known. Mr de Stuers affirms that he produced sea-pieces. One of his earliest works is ''Tub with Fish'', dated 1655, in the

Herzog Anton Ulrich Museum The Herzog Anton Ulrich Museum (HAUM) is an art museum in the German city of Braunschweig, Lower Saxony. History Founded in 1754, the Herzog Anton Ulrich Museum is one of the oldest museums in Europe. The museum has its origins in the art and nat ...

. Hondecoeter soon abandoned fish for fowl. He acquired celebrity as a painter of birds only, which he represented not exclusively, like

Johannes Fyt Jan Fijt or Johannes Fijt (or Fyt) (19 August 1609 – 11 September 1661) was a Flemish Baroque painter, draughtsman and etcher. One of the leading animaliers of the 17th century, he was known for his refined depictions of animals and his lush h ...

, as the gamekeeper's perquisite after a day's shooting, or stock of a poulterer's shop, but as living beings with passions, joys, fears and quarrels, to which naturalists will tell us that birds are subject. Without the brilliant tone and high finish of Fyt, the latter's Dutch rival's birds are full of action; and, as Burger says, "''Hondecoeter displays the maternity of the hen with as much tenderness and feeling as Raphael the maternity of Madonnas''." But Fyt, a pupil of Snyder, was at home in depicting the coat of deer and dons as well as plumage. Hondecoeter cultivated a narrower field, and seldom went beyond a

cock-fight A cockfight is a blood sport, held in a ring called a cockpit. The history of raising fowl for fighting goes back 6,000 years. The first documented use of the ''word'' gamecock, denoting use of the cock as to a " game", a sport, pastime or ent ...

or a display of mere bird life. Melchior d'Hondecoeter - Still Life with Cock

Very few of his pictures are dated, around twenty of them, though more are signed. Notable are ''Jackdaw deprived of his Borrowed Plumes'' (1671), at the

Mauritshuis The Mauritshuis (; en, Maurice House) is an art museum in The Hague, Netherlands. The museum houses the Royal Cabinet of Paintings which consists of 854 objects, mostly Dutch Golden Age paintings. The collection contains works by Johannes Vermeer ...

in The Hague, of which

Earl Cadogan Earl Cadogan is a title that has been created twice in the Peerage of Great Britain for the Cadogan family. The second creation, in 1800, was for Charles Cadogan, 3rd Baron Cadogan. History Of Welsh origin, the family name was spelt ''Cadw ...

has an authentic copy; ''Game and Poultry'' and ''A Spaniel hunting a Partridge'' (1672), in the

Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium The Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium (french: Musées royaux des Beaux-Arts de Belgique, nl, Koninklijke Musea voor Schone Kunsten van België) are a group of art museums in Brussels, Belgium. They include six museums: the Oldmasters Muse ...

; ''A Park with Poultry'' (1686) at the Hermitage of St Petersburg. Hondecoeter also painted wall hangings with views of buildings and parks.

Stadtholder In the Low Countries, ''stadtholder'' ( nl, stadhouder ) was an office of steward, designated a medieval official and then a national leader. The ''stadtholder'' was the replacement of the duke or count of a province during the Burgundian and H ...

William III employed Hondecoeter, in great favour with the magnates of the

Dutch Republic The United Provinces of the Netherlands, also known as the (Seven) United Provinces, officially as the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands (Dutch: ''Republiek der Zeven Verenigde Nederlanden''), and commonly referred to in historiography ...

, to paint his menagerie at

Het Loo Het Loo Palace ( nl, Paleis Het Loo , meaning "The wikt:lea#English, Lea") is a palace in Apeldoorn, Netherlands, built by the House of Orange-Nassau. History The symmetry, symmetrical Dutch Baroque architecture, Dutch Baroque building was desi ...

, and the picture, now at The Hague museum, shows that he could at a pinch overcome the difficulty of representing India's cattle, elephants and gazelles. But he is better in homelier works, with which he adorned the royal castles of Bensberg and Oranienstein at different periods of his life. His earliest works are more conscientious, lighter and more transparent than his later ones. At all times he is bold of touch and sure of eye, giving the motion of birds with great spirit and accuracy. According to the

RKD The Netherlands Institute for Art History or RKD (Dutch: RKD-Nederlands Instituut voor Kunstgeschiedenis), previously Rijksbureau voor Kunsthistorische Documentatie (RKD), is located in The Hague and is home to the largest art history center i ...

his registered pupils were Willem Hendrik Wilhelmus van Royen and

. He was followed by or influenced D. Birrius, Peter Casteels (III),

Adriaen van Oolen Adriaen, or Jan van Alen (1651–1698) was a painter from the Northern Netherlands. He was born as the son of the animal painter Jacob van Oolen in Amsterdam, with whom his works are sometimes confused. He became an imitator of Melchior Hondeko ...

Felice Boselli Felice Boselli (Piacenza, 20 April 1650 – Parma, 23 August 1732) was an Italian painter of the Baroque period, active mainly in Piacenza Piacenza (; egl, label= Piacentino, Piaṡëinsa ; ) is a city and in the Emilia-Romagna region of ...

, Angelo Maria Crivelli, Tobias Stranover, Charles Collins (c. 1680-1744), Marmaduke Cradock, Adriaen Coorte,

Jan van Huysum Jan van Huysum (or Jan van Huijsum) (15 April 1682 – 8 February 1749) is the most notable member of the Van Huysum family of artists working in Dutch Golden Age of the 17th and 18th centuries; “by common consent, Jan van Huysum has been held ...

, and

Elias Vonck Elias Vonck (1605, Amsterdam – 1652, Amsterdam), was a Dutch Golden Age painter. Biography According to the RKD he worked in Poland 1631-1639, where son Jan was born.

Collections

His masterpieces are at The Hague,

Soestdijk Soestdijk () is a neighbourhood of Soest and a hamlet in the municipality of Baarn. Both are part of the province of Utrecht, Netherlands. The village gives its name to Paleis Soestdijk, which from 1937 to 2004 was the residence of Princess and ...

and at Amsterdam ('' The Floating Feather''), but there are fine examples in the

Wallace Collection The Wallace Collection is a museum in London occupying Hertford House in Manchester Square, the former townhouse of the Seymour family, Marquesses of Hertford. It is named after Sir Richard Wallace, who built the extensive collection, along w ...

and Belton House in England, and in the public galleries of Berlin, Budapest, Caen, Cologne, Copenhagen, Detroit, Dresden, Dublin, Florence, Glasgow, Hanover, Karlsruhe, Kassel, London, Lyon, Lille, Melbourne, Montpellier, Munich, Paris, Poltava, Riga, Rotterdam, Rouen, Stuttgart, Schwerin, Vaduz, Warsaw and Vienna. The largest Hondecoeter exhibition to date was held in Berlin in 2010, where 18 of his works were shown at the

Neue Nationalgalerie The Neue Nationalgalerie (New National Gallery) at the Kulturforum is a museum for modern art in Berlin, with its main focus on the early 20th century. It is part of the National Gallery of the Berlin State Museums. The museum building and its ...

as part of

Willem de Rooij Willem de Rooij (born 1969 in Beverwijk, Netherlands) is an artist and educator working in a variety of media, including film and installation. He investigates the production, contextualization and interpretation of images. Appropriations and collab ...

's installation 'Intolerance'.
Utah Museum of Fine Arts

In popular culture

His painting 'A Pelican and other Birds near a Pool’, otherwise known as ‘The Floating Feather’ (c. 1680), was used by William Doyle (musician) for the cover of his album ''Great Spans of Muddy Time''.

Gallery

File:Melchior de Hondecoeter (1636-1695) - A Cock and Two Hens, with Chicks, in a Landscape Setting - 453766 - National Trust.jpg, ''A Cock and Two Hens, with Chicks, in a Landscape Setting'' (1656–95), oil on canvas, 76.8 x cm.,

National Trust The National Trust, formally the National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, is a charity and membership organisation for heritage conservation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. In Scotland, there is a separate and ...

File:Birds, Butterflies and a Frog among Plants and Fungi (1668), oil on canvas, 68.3 x 56.8 cm., National Gallery.jpg, ''Birds, Butterflies and Frog with Plants and Fungi'' (1668), oil on canvas, 68.3 x 56.8 cm.,

National Gallery The National Gallery is an art museum in Trafalgar Square in the City of Westminster, in Central London, England. Founded in 1824, it houses a collection of over 2,300 paintings dating from the mid-13th century to 1900. The current Director o ...

File:Backyard Birds (1660s), oil on canvas, 105 x 182 cm., Musée Condé.jpg, ''Backyard Birds'' (1660s), oil on canvas, 105 x 182 cm.,

Musée Condé The Musée Condé – in English, the Condé Museum – is a French museum located inside the Château de Chantilly in Chantilly, Oise, 40 km north of Paris. In 1897, Henri d'Orléans, Duke of Aumale, son of Louis Philippe I, bequeathed the c ...

File:Animals and Plants of the Forest (1670-80), oil on canvas, 81.2 x 64.7 cm., Yale University Art Gallery.jpg, ''Animals and Plants of the Forest'' (ca. 1670-80), oil on canvas, 81.2 x 64.7 cm.,

Yale University Art Gallery The Yale University Art Gallery (YUAG) is the oldest university art museum in the Western Hemisphere. It houses a major encyclopedic collection of art in several interconnected buildings on the campus of Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut. ...

File:Melchior d' Hondecoeter - Chickens and Ducks - 62 - Mauritshuis.jpg, ''Chickens and Ducks'' (ca. 1660-90), oil on canvas, 115 x 136 cm.,

File:Melchior de Hondecoeter - Das Vogelkonzert.jpg, ''Concert of Birds'' (1670), oil on canvas, 84 x 99 cm., private collection File:Hondecoeter Tiere v d Arche Noah@Herzog Anton Ulrich Museum.JPG, ''Beast in Front of Noah's Ark'' (ca. 1680), oil on canvas,

File:Melchior d'hondecoeter, volpe con gallo morto in un pollaio, 1678 (cropped).jpg, ''Fox with Dead Rooster and Poultry'' (1678), oil on canvas, 148 x 170 cm., Netherlands Art Collection File:Melchior d’ Hondecoeter, , Kunsthistorisches Museum Wien, Gemäldegalerie - Geflügelhof - GG 390 - Kunsthistorisches Museum.jpg, ''Geflügelhof'' 'Poultry Farm''(ca. 1675-99), oil on canvas, 162 × 220,5 cm.,

Kunsthistorisches Museum The Kunsthistorisches Museum ( "Museum of Art History", often referred to as the "Museum of Fine Arts") is an art museum in Vienna, Austria. Housed in its festive palatial building on the Vienna Ring Road, it is crowned with an octagonal do ...

File:Melchior d' Hondecoeter - The Crow Exposed - BF.1978.18 - Museum of Fine Arts.jpg, '' The Crow Exposed'' (ca. 1680), oil on canvas, 170.2 × 211.5 cm.,

Museum of Fine Arts, Houston The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston (MFAH), is an art museum located in the Houston Museum District of Houston, Texas. With the recent completion of an eight-year campus redevelopment project, including the opening of the Nancy and Rich Kinder Build ...

File:Floating feather.jpg, ''Pelican and Birds Near a Pool'', "'' The Floating Feather''" (ca. 1680), oil on canvas, 159 x144 cm.,

Rijksmuseum The Rijksmuseum () is the national museum of the Netherlands dedicated to Dutch arts and history and is located in Amsterdam. The museum is located at the Museum Square in the borough of Amsterdam South, close to the Van Gogh Museum, the St ...

File:Melchior d'Hondecoeter - The poultry yard Fd000394.jpg, ''The Poultry Yard'' (1690s), oil on canvas, 148.2 x 170.3 cm.,

National Gallery of Victoria The National Gallery of Victoria, popularly known as the NGV, is an art museum in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Founded in 1861, it is Australia's oldest and most visited art museum. The NGV houses an encyclopedic art collection across two ...

File:Melchior de Hondecoeter - Kämpfende Hähne - 346 - Staatliche Kunsthalle Karlsruhe.jpg, ''Roosters Fighting'' (1686), oil on canvas, 104 x 136.5 cm.,

Staatliche Kunsthalle Karlsruhe The Staatliche Kunsthalle (State Art Gallery) is an art museum in Karlsruhe, Germany. The museum, created by architect Heinrich Hübsch, opened in 1846 after nine years of work in a neoclassical building next to the Karlsruhe Castle and the ...

File:Eenden Rijksmuseum SK-A-172.jpeg, ''Ducks'' (ca. 1675-80), oil on canvas, 93 x 116 cm.,

File:Bodegón con animales (Hondecoeter).jpg, ''Still Life with Animals'' (ca. 1680-90), oil on canvas, 141 x 172 cm.,

Museo del Prado The Prado Museum ( ; ), officially known as Museo Nacional del Prado, is the main Spanish national art museum, located in central Madrid. It is widely considered to house one of the world's finest collections of European art, dating from the ...

File:A Captive Diana Monkey on a Wall against a Landscape with Four Colorful Birds in the Sky .jpg, ''A Diana Monkey with Four Colorful Birds'' (ca. 1690), oil on canvas, 61.7 x 48.8 cm.,

Toledo Museum of Art The Toledo Museum of Art is an internationally known art museum located in the Old West End neighborhood of Toledo, Ohio. It houses a collection of more than 30,000 objects. With 45 galleries, it covers 280,000 square feet and is currently in th ...

File:Reims (Marne) - Musée des Beaux-Arts - "Fillette aux paons" (Melchior de Hondecoeter, 1636-1695) (31838097948) (cropped).jpg, ''Girl with Peacocks'' (ca. 1680), oil on canvas, 128 x 181.7 cm.,

Museum of Fine Arts, Reims The Museum of Fine Arts (french: Musée des beaux-arts) is a fine arts museum in Reims, France. History Antoine Ferrand de Monthelon, founder of the school of drawings, bequeaths in 1752 his collection to the city of Reims. Organizer and first ...

irl_likely_painted_by_ irl_likely_painted_by_Jan_de_Baen">Jan_de_Baen.html"_;"title="irl_likely_painted_by_Jan_de_Baen">irl_likely_painted_by_Jan_de_BaenFile:M_de_Hondecoeter_Paon_P_Palais_2014.jpg.html" ;"title="Jan_de_Baen.html" ;"title="Jan_de_Baen.html" ;"title="irl likely painted by Jan de Baen">irl likely painted by Jan de Baen">Jan_de_Baen.html" ;"title="irl likely painted by Jan de Baen">irl likely painted by Jan de BaenFile:M de Hondecoeter Paon P Palais 2014.jpg">''Peacocks, Male and Female'' (1681), oil on canvas, 1,30 x 1,30 cm., Petit Palais, Musée des Beaux-Arts de la Ville de Paris File:Cockatoo and Monkey by a Wicker Basket of Fruit (no date), oil on canvas. 76.5 x 127.6 cm., private collection.jpg, ''Cockatoo and Monkey by a Wicker Basket of Fruit'' (no date), oil on canvas. 76.5 x 127.6 cm., private collection File:Peacocks 1683 Melchior d'Hondecoeter.jpg, ''Peacocks'' (1683), oil on canvas, 190.2 x 134.6 cm., Metropolitan Museum of Art

References

Sources

External links

*
Rijksmuseum.nl

Works and literature on Melchior d'Hondecoeter
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hondecoeter, Melchior D 1630s births 1695 deaths Artists from Utrecht Dutch bird artists Dutch Golden Age painters Dutch male painters