A Cock, Hens and Chicks
- Artist: Melchior d'Hondecoeter
- Date: about 1668-70
- Medium: oil on canvas
- Museum: The National Gallery
- Collection record: The National Gallery website
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About this artwork
This is "A Cock, Hens and Chicks" by Melchior d'Hondecoeter. Painted in the Netherlands around 1668-70, it's a prime example of the artist's specialty: large decorative paintings of birds.
Here we see a wild pigeon perched on a wooden yoke against an overturned wicker basket, while a finch wings its way towards it. The exotic chickens are probably Polish - a breed first recorded in the Netherlands and established there by the seventeenth century. They were bred for their eggs but also for their colours and extravagant appearance.
The artist's attention to detail is impressive, particularly when it comes to the depiction of feathers. Look at how he captures the fluffy feathers of the hens and chicks, the stiffer wing feathers of the adult birds, and the pigeon's tail.
A Cock, Hens and Chicks was highly prized for its detailed representation of the fowl but also as an idealised view of life on a farm. Note how the background shows ancient buildings against a distant landscape - a common feature in d'Hondecoeter's paintings. His birds always appear as beautifully kept prize specimens, though not always as well behaved.
The painting was created in the studio, using sketches and drawings from life, although it's possible that d'Hondecoeter also worked from preserved birds by taxidermy, which was a common practice among seventeenth-century Dutch artists.
See it in person
A Cock, Hens and Chicks hangs in The National Gallery on Trafalgar Square, London — free to enter. Point your phone at any artwork there and audioguide.london plays a free audio guide in six languages — no app download needed.
