Study of Birds and Monkey

Circle of Jan van Kessel the Elder

National Gallery of Art

This is a painting of various colorful birds and a monkey framed by two tall trees. The birds are of different varieties and have striking plumage, including a bird of paradise with yellow and red feathers, a peacock with long, colorful tail feathers, and several smaller birds with vividly colored wings. At the center of the image, a brown hawk faces us. Two of the birds are depicted perched on branches, while two stand on the ground and the other three are in mid-air with their wings extended. In the lower right corner, a small gray monkey is shown sitting on the ground next to the tree. At the bottom of the image are a few short ferns and patches of grass, but most of the background is blank paper.