Rijksmuseum

Eurasian Bullfinch

Date

1716 - 1783

Medium

paper, deck paint

Institution

Rijksmuseum

Dietzsch used stuffed specimens as models, and often exaggerated their beauty. Here, she emphasized the liveliness of the bird, with one claw lifted, the beak slightly open, and a knowing twinkle in its eye. Her depictions were widely used to decorate natural history cabinets, where real specimens and pictorial representations were displayed together in an aesthetic arrangement.

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