Black Stork in a Landscape
Black Stork in a Landscape is an 18th-century watercolor painting of a woolly-necked stork. The painting, which is currently in the collection the Metropolitan Museum of Art, was commissioned by Claude Martin as part of a series of 658 ornithological paintings.
| Black Stork in a Landscape | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Artist | Unknown |
| Year | c. 1780 |
| Medium | Watercolor on paper |
| Dimensions | 54.6 cm × 75.6 cm (21.5 in × 29.8 in) |
| Location | Metropolitan Museum of Art |
Description
The painting depicts a Woolly-necked stork (Ciconia episcopus), a large wading bird that includes the Indian subcontinent in its range.[1] Done in watercolor on European paper, the work was produced by an unknown Indian artist, in what is known as the Company style. The work is traceable to a series of 658 paintings of birds that the French-born Major-General Claude Martin commissioned for his private collection.[2][3]
The way in which the painting is executed implies that the anonymous author was familiar with the Woolly-necked stork; notably, the stork is shown to be crossing its right foot over its left, the standard posture of a stork.[3]
References
- Hancock, James A.; Kushlan, James A.; Kahl, M. Philip (1992). Storks, Ibises and Spoonbills of the World. London, U.K.: Academic Press. pp. 81–86. ISBN 0-12-322730-5.
- (PDF). 2007-09-27 https://web.archive.org/web/20070927222647/http://www.eslamprey.com/McInnis_Matz/Matz_pp49-64.pdf. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2007-09-27. Retrieved 2018-05-25.
{{cite web}}: Missing or empty|title=(help) - "Black Stork in a Landscape | The Met". The Metropolitan Museum of Art, i.e. The Met Museum. Retrieved 2018-05-25.