Common hoopoe, Upupa epops L.1758 c. 1619 - c. 1622
Watercolour and bodycolour heightened with gum, over black chalk, the outlines incised; corrections in lead white along upper back. Silhouetted around tip of tail. Trimmed at top. Mount type G | 19.0 x 21.5 cm (sheet of paper) | RCIN 927682
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This drawing of a common hoopoe was commissioned from the artist Vincenzo Leonardi by the seventeenth-century Roman patron and collector Cassiano dal Pozzo to illustrate a 1622 treatise on birds by Giovanni Pietro Olina titled L'Uccelliera, ovvero discorso della natura e proprietà di diversi uccelli ('The Aviary, or Discourse on the Nature and Characteristics of Diverse Birds'); the engraving by Francesco Villamena based on this drawing appears on fol. 35 verso of this book.
See Birds, Other Animals and Natural Curiosities, Part B.IV/V of The Paper Museum of Cassiano dal Pozzo: A Catalogue Raisonné (2 vols, Royal Collection Trust 2017), vol. 1, cat.10.
Provenance
From the collection of Cassiano dal Pozzo (1588-22 October 1657); inherited by his brother, Carlo Antonio dal Pozzo (1606-1689); sold by Carlo Antonio's grandson to Clement XI, 1703; acquired by Cardinal Alessandro Albani by 1714, from whom purchased by George III in 1762
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Medium and techniques
Watercolour and bodycolour heightened with gum, over black chalk, the outlines incised; corrections in lead white along upper back. Silhouetted around tip of tail. Trimmed at top. Mount type G
Measurements
19.0 x 21.5 cm (sheet of paper)
Markings
watermark: Fleur de lys in circle surmounted by crown (cut)
Other number(s)
RL 27682
