"Chickens and Ducks," Melchior d'Hondecoeter, 1680.
d'Hondecoeter (c.1636-1695) was a Baroque animalier painter, that is, someone who specializes in realistically portrayed animals. In his case, he almost exclusively painted birds, either exotic avians or game birds.
Raised in an artistic family (his father and grandfather were painters; dad was an animalier as well), he didn't seem interested in art at first; his parents thought he'd go for the church instead. But he started painting, first a few sea pictures. but then switching to birds, for which he won a certain measure of fame.
Some of his best work had elements of landscape as well, and he could throw in a view of a patron's country home or castle as part of his bird paintings. Dogs, other animals, and the occasional human, also appeared, but his focus was always birds. He became popular with the wealthy for his skill in painting their private menageries.
From the Mauritshuis, The Hague.
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