Thursday, July 17, 2014

Drawing of the Day: The Yellow-Breasted Chat and the Turk's Cap Lily, c. 1765




The Yellow-Breasted Chat and The Turk's Cap Lily, c. 1765
Mark Catesby
Purchased by King George III
Crown Copyright
The Royal Collection
Image Courtesy of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II



From the Royal Collection, we have this handsome watercolor by Mark Catesby (1682-1749). Catesby created the painting of a small bird (known as a Yellow-Breasted Chat) with a Turk’s Cap Lily. To give emphasis to the bird, Catesby has only faintly sketched-in the plant with it’s maple-shaped leaves. 

The painting was created for one Thomas Cadell from whom it was purchased by King George III in 1768.


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