Johannes Bronckhorst ( 1648 - 1726 )

Great Spotted Woodpecker


Great Spotted Woodpecker


bodycolour on card
8 ½ x 10 ½ cm. (21.5 x 26.5 cm.)


Provenance:
England since the 18th century
Formally in the Gerard Leigh collection at Luton Hoo, Bedfordshire

This remarkable group of bird paintings were completed about three hundred years ago, and still have their eighteenth-century frames. Little is known about Bronckhorst’s actual life, but his work is familiar to us through many similar depictions of birds and insects. These are painted in gouache – or bodycolour – and are in excellent condition, retaining much of their original colour. That these birds are recognizable to us today is explained perhaps by the inscription ‘ad vivum’ to be found on several of the group, suggesting that the artist was able to study them at first hand.

item sold

Johannes Bronckhorst