Jay, Green Woodpecker, Pigeons, and Redstart

Jay, Green Woodpecker, Pigeons, and Redstart

Francis Barlow, ca. 1658

Download3331 × 4000 px View on a wall Edit

Artist: Francis Barlow (British, 1624–1704)
Medium: Oil on canvas
Size: 30 × 25 1/8 inches (76.2 × 63.8 cm)
Museum: Yale Center for British Art
Rights: CC0 — no rights reserved

In 1656, the courtier John Evelyn referred to Francis Barlow as “the famous Paynter of fowle Beastes & Birds.” This is one of the artist’s earliest paintings, made at a time when wildlife paintings excluding the human figure were a novel concept. Here, a green woodpecker is viewed in profile, a Eurasian jay is captured in flight, a redstart perches on a branch, and two wood pigeons forage for food on the ground, where closer inspection reveals a lizard and a pair of frogs. This picture is signed playfully, as if the artist’s name and date had been carved into the trunk of the tree.

Text: Yale Center for British Art.

More by Francis Barlow

Ducks and Other Birds about a Stream in an Italianate Landscape

Ducks and Other Birds about a Stream in an Italianate Landscape

Francis Barlow, 1671

The Lyon and the Kid, from Ogilby's Aesopics

The Lyon and the Kid, from Ogilby's Aesopics

Francis Barlow, ca. 1668

Fabel van de voedster en de wolf

Fabel van de voedster en de wolf

Francis Barlow, 1714

Domestic Cock, Hens, and Chicks

Domestic Cock, Hens, and Chicks

Francis Barlow, 1655

Fabel van de Sater en de boer

Fabel van de Sater en de boer

Francis Barlow, 1714

Woodcock at Dusk

Woodcock at Dusk

Francis Barlow, ca. 1686

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Francis Barlow, undated

Fabel van de ezel in de leeuwenhuid

Fabel van de ezel in de leeuwenhuid

Francis Barlow, 1714

Fabel van de bevalling van de berg

Fabel van de bevalling van de berg

Francis Barlow, 1714

Man Hunting with a Pointed Staff and a Hound

Man Hunting with a Pointed Staff and a Hound

Francis Barlow, ca. 1645-1650

Fabel van Venus en de kat

Fabel van Venus en de kat

Francis Barlow, 1714

Portret van Edward Benlowes

Portret van Edward Benlowes

Francis Barlow, 1652

Visually similar

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