Paradise widow and sparrow bird

About the Work

Aert Schouman executed his bird and mammal watercolours after models in the collections of natural curiosities widespread in the Netherlands in the eighteenth century. He thus catered not only to his customers’ interest in natural history but also to the pleasure they took in high-quality artistic depictions. The two skilfully arranged birds actually come from two different continents – the long-tailed paradise whydah (top) from Africa, and the red-cowled cardinal (bottom) from South America.