03 — ARTWORK
The Floating Feather
HONDECOETER, Melchior d' · 1680 →
- MEDIUM
- Oil on canvas, 159 x 144 cm
- TYPE
- Other
PALETTE
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- FILE
- 1200 × 1327 px · JPEG
COMMENTARY
UNDERLINED TERMS ARE DEFINED IN THE GLOSSARY.
This large canvasA woven cloth used as a support for painting. The best-quality canvas is made of linen; other materials used are cotton, hemp, and jute. It is now so familiar a material that the word 'canvas' has become almost a synonym for an oil painting, but it was not until around 1500 that it began to rival the wooden panel (which was more expensive and took longer to prepare) as the standard support for movable paintings (the transition came later in Northern Europe than in Italy). Canvas is not suitable for painting on until it has been coated with a ground, which isolates the fabric from the paint; otherwise it will absorb too much paint, only very rough effects will be obtainable, and parts of the fabric may be rotted by the pigments. It must also be made taut on a stretcher or by some other means. shows several ducks swimming in a pool in the foreground, on the surface of which floats the feather that gave the painting its popular name. On the left stands a white pelican, among the birds in the background are a peacock and a flamingo.
Melchior d'Hondecoeter was a specialist in painting poultry. In keeping with the circumstances of his rich clientele he moved his scenes from the barnyard to the peacock courtyards and aviaries of stately country mansions. He often painted life-size exotic birds against a background of garden statues, vases or fountains in the pleasure garden of a country retreat.
CITE THIS RECORD — BIBTEX
@online{wga-ra97813a09d9989,
author = {Krén, Emil and Marx, Daniel},
title = {The Floating Feather by HONDECOETER, Melchior d'},
organization = {{Web Gallery of Art}},
date = {2026-09-07},
url = {https://beta.wga.hu/artists/hondecoeter-melchior-d-r346a4d61171411/the-floating-feather-ra97813a09d9989},
urldate = {2026-09-07},
langid = {english}
}ACCESSED 2026-09-07. REPLACE THE AUTHOR FIELD WITH THE COMMENTARY AUTHOR WHERE ONE IS NAMED.
