Johann Jakob WALTHER (Strasbourg 1604-1676)

Lot 8
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Estimation :
6000 - 8000 EUR
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Result : 13 500EUR
Johann Jakob WALTHER (Strasbourg 1604-1676)
White parrot known as Cardinal Farnese's parrot. Watercolour and gouache. Captioned in the upper right-hand corner in German in beautiful calligraphy with pen and brown ink Psittacus Albus Cristatus () Cardinal Alexandri Farnesi Zu Romin Lauterfect nach dem leben. 24 x 40 cm. Some restorations in the backgrounds; lightly oiled; foxing and spotting. In his Traité historique et moral du blason, Jean-Baptiste Dupuy-Demportes reports "Of all the species of parrots known, I cannot find any whose beauty approaches that of the parrot that Cardinal Alexander Farnese had: It was almost as large as an ordinary cock, and like a cock, it had a long and raised tail; instead of a crest, a tuft of feathers a foot and a half long, which rose on its head and curved towards the beak; its plumage was white, its blue eyes were surmounted by a black eyebrow-shaped border: the ornitologist who describes this animal adds that its kindnesses & little manners answered perfectly to the singularity of its figure & the beauty of its plumage" (Volume One, Chapter XLVI. Du Perroquet; pp. 141 & 142- Paris 1754). Cardinal Odoardo Farnese (1573-1626), the son of the previous president, was to gather exotic parrots in the aviary of his rare plant garden, Horti Palatini Farnesiorum, in his Palatine villa (Cf. Roberto Zapperi, Arrigo le Velu, Pietro le Fou, Amon le Nanin et autres bêtes: autour d'un tableau d'Agostino Carrache ; Annales, Année 1985, 40 - 2, pp. 307-327). Presumed provenance: See lot n°5.
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