Ornithological Studies and Depictions

May 2026

These objects are connected by their detailed artistic representations of various bird species, primarily created as naturalistic studies in 18th-century France and America.

107 objects · 5 institutions

A Duck Sleeping near a Broken Wheel in a Farmyard, a Chicken beyond

Metropolitan Museum of Art

17th century

IIIF

A Young Lady with a Parrot

Art Institute of Chicago

c. 1730

Album Sheet with an Ostrich

Rijksmuseum

1550 - 1570

Bird Concert

Rijksmuseum

1620 - 1715

Bird Walking to the Left; verso: Two Flying Pigeons

Harvard Art Museums

18th century

Bustard; verso: blank

Harvard Art Museums

18th century

Common Kingfisher

Rijksmuseum

1716 - 1783

Crane Looking to the Left; verso: Crane Stading on One Leg Looking to the Right

Harvard Art Museums

18th century

Dead Bird Hanging

Harvard Art Museums

18th century

Dog and Squirrel; verso: Crane

Harvard Art Museums

18th century

Drake Pintail

Rijksmuseum

1682

Duck Looking to the Left; verso: Two Dead Wild Ducks

Harvard Art Museums

18th century

Duck and Bird, both with Wings Extended ; verso: blank

Harvard Art Museums

18th century

Duck and Heron with a Fish; verso: blank

Harvard Art Museums

18th century

Duck with Wings Extended, Seen from Behind; verso: blank

Harvard Art Museums

18th century

Duck with Wings Extended; verso: Tufted Crane

Harvard Art Museums

18th century

Duck; verso: Eagle

Harvard Art Museums

18th century

Egyptian Duck; verso: Partridge

Harvard Art Museums

18th century

Eurasian Bullfinch

Rijksmuseum

1716 - 1783

Ficedula, Piuoyne (The Bullfinch), from "Livre d'Oyseaux" (Book of Birds)

Metropolitan Museum of Art

1655–60

Five Birds, One Perched, Four in Flight; verso: blank

Harvard Art Museums

18th century

Flamingo; verso: Two Peacocks

Harvard Art Museums

18th century

Folio recto: Blank; verso: Bird Confronting an Owl before a Cave

Harvard Art Museums

18th century

Folio recto: Blank; verso: Crane Standing on One Leg Looking Upward

Harvard Art Museums

18th century

Folio recto: Blank; verso: Dead Red Partridge

Harvard Art Museums

18th century

Folio recto: Blank; verso: Heron Tied to a Branch

Harvard Art Museums

18th century

Folio recto: Blank; verso: Muscovy Duck

Harvard Art Museums

18th century

Folio recto: Blank; verso: Perched Magpie, Perched Woodpecker, and a Bird in Flight

Harvard Art Museums

18th century

Folio recto: Blank; verso: Standing Bird with Wings Outspread

Harvard Art Museums

18th century

Folio recto: Blank; verso: Swan Transporting a Fish in a Landsape

Harvard Art Museums

18th century

Folio recto: Blank; verso: Two Birds in Flight

Harvard Art Museums

18th century

Folio recto: Blank; verso: Two Perched Birds and One in Flight

Harvard Art Museums

18th century

Folio recto: Blank; verso: Two Sparrows in Flight

Harvard Art Museums

18th century

Folio recto: Blank; verso: Two Swallows in Flight

Harvard Art Museums

18th century

Four Birds; verso: Two Wild Ducks

Harvard Art Museums

18th century

Four Studies of Cockatoos

Rijksmuseum

c. 1650 - c. 1719

Four Swallows, One Perched and Three in Flight; verso: blank

Harvard Art Museums

18th century

Guinea-fowl (?); verso: blank

Harvard Art Museums

18th century

Heron and Four Perched Birds; verso: blank

Harvard Art Museums

18th century

Hunched Bird Looking Upward; verso: blank

Harvard Art Museums

18th century

Hunched Bird with Ruffled Feathers; verso: blank

Harvard Art Museums

18th century

Hunched Heron and Three Perched Parrots; verso: blank

Harvard Art Museums

18th century

Hunching Duck in Profile to the Left; verso: blank

Harvard Art Museums

18th century

Lady of Numidia; verso: blank

Harvard Art Museums

18th century

Merganser; verso: Heron

Harvard Art Museums

18th century

Monkey Riding a Dolphin; verso: blank

Harvard Art Museums

18th century

IIIF

Objects on Wall, study for Couture, The Bird-Catcher

Art Institute of Chicago

c. 1857

IIIF

Ostrich Hunt

Art Institute of Chicago

n.d.

Parakeet

Rijksmuseum

1670 - 1719

IIIF

Partridge

Art Institute of Chicago

n.d.

Peacock; verso: Heron on One Leg with Wings Outspread

Harvard Art Museums

18th century

Perched Bird Looking over its Shoulder; verso: blank

Harvard Art Museums

18th century

Perched Parrot and Standing Heron; verso: blank

Harvard Art Museums

18th century

Peregrine Falcons (Duck Hawks)

Cleveland Museum of Art

c. 1827

Quizzical Bird; verso: blank

Harvard Art Museums

18th century

Return of the Duck Hunters / verso: Sketches of Ships and of a Man in Winter Clothing

Rijksmuseum

c. 1610 - c. 1615

Rode ibis met een ei

Rijksmuseum

1699 - 1701

Rooster and Hen; verso: blank

Harvard Art Museums

18th century

Seated Duck; verso: blank

Harvard Art Museums

18th century

Sketches of Ships and of a Man in Winter Clothing / recto: Return of the Duck Hunters

Rijksmuseum

c. 1610 - c. 1615

Small Bird in Flight above Two Pheasants; verso: blank

Harvard Art Museums

18th century

Spoonbill; verso: Two Birds in Shallow Water

Harvard Art Museums

18th century

Squawking Bird with Talons Extended to the Right; verso: blank

Harvard Art Museums

18th century

Squirrel Eating Cherries and Bird with Wings Extended; verso: blank

Harvard Art Museums

18th century

Standing Bird Looking Backwards; verso: Tortoise and Hare in a Landscape

Harvard Art Museums

18th century

Standing Bird Looking Right; verso: Two Wading Ducks Flapping Their Wings and Looking Upward

Harvard Art Museums

18th century

Standing Bird Looking Upward and Behind; verso: blank

Harvard Art Museums

18th century

Standing Bird; verso: Flying Bird of Prey

Harvard Art Museums

18th century

Standing Bird; verso: blank

Harvard Art Museums

18th century

Standing Duck Looking to the Left; verso: blank

Harvard Art Museums

18th century

Standing Duck and Bird in Flight; verso: blank

Harvard Art Museums

18th century

Standing Heron and Two Perched Birds; verso: blank

Harvard Art Museums

18th century

Standing Heron and Two Small Birds, One Perched and One in Flight; verso: blank

Harvard Art Museums

18th century

Standing Heron with Right Leg Raised; verso: blank

Harvard Art Museums

18th century

Standing Merganser Looking Backward; verso: Soaring Bird

Harvard Art Museums

18th century

Standing Peacock and Small Perched Bird; verso: blank

Harvard Art Museums

18th century

Standing Pheasant; verso: blank

Harvard Art Museums

18th century

Still Life with Four Dead Birds

Rijksmuseum

c. 1640 - c. 1652

Striding Bird; verso: blank

Harvard Art Museums

18th century

Study of a Standing Duck Hunter, Leaning on his Gun

Rijksmuseum

before 1620

IIIF

The Ant and the Grasshopper

Art Institute of Chicago

1875

IIIF

The Bird Catcher

Art Institute of Chicago

c. 1857

The Birds of America from Drawings Made in the United States

Metropolitan Museum of Art

1840–44

The Fox and the Turkey Hens

Cleveland Museum of Art

1733

IIIF

The Squirrel

Art Institute of Chicago

1860s–70s

The ostrich

Rijksmuseum

1889 - 1938

Three Birds, Two Hunched Together and One Looking Back to the Left; verso: blank

Harvard Art Museums

18th century

Toucan Resting on a Branch; verso: Two Falcons

Harvard Art Museums

18th century

Two Birds Taking Flight; verso: blank

Harvard Art Museums

18th century

Two Birds in Flight; verso: Swan

Harvard Art Museums

18th century

Two Birds, One Perched and One in Flight; verso: blank

Harvard Art Museums

18th century

IIIF

Two Children, One Holding Nest with Birds

Art Institute of Chicago

n.d.

Two Costume Designs or Portrait Studies. Woman with a Bird and a Woman with Binoculars

Metropolitan Museum of Art

ca. 1785–90

Two Ducks in the Water, One Taking Flight; verso: blank

Harvard Art Museums

18th century

Two Herons; verso: blank

Harvard Art Museums

18th century

Two Hunched Pheasants; verso: blank

Harvard Art Museums

18th century

Two Parrots Perched on a Branch; verso: blank

Harvard Art Museums

18th century

Two Peacocks; verso: blank

Harvard Art Museums

18th century

Two Perched Birds and a Duck; verso: blank

Harvard Art Museums

18th century

Two Perched Birds; verso: blank

Harvard Art Museums

18th century

Two Perched and Squawking Pheasants; verso: blank

Harvard Art Museums

18th century

Two Pheasants Perched on a Branch; verso: blank

Harvard Art Museums

18th century

Two Pheasants in Flight, a Standing Heron and Two Small Birds; verso: blank

Harvard Art Museums

18th century

Two Pheasants; verso: blank

Harvard Art Museums

18th century

Two Rabbits; verso: blank

Harvard Art Museums

18th century

Two Squawking Ducks in the Water; verso: blank

Harvard Art Museums

18th century

IIIF

Woman with a Green Parrot

Art Institute of Chicago

1850/1880