Birds
Birds have long been a source of artistic inspiration.

Birds, in their infinite and colourful variety, have long been a source of artistic inspiration. They have been sketched, painted and carved as specimens of scientific interest or aesthetic delight. They have been included in compositions to transmit religious, poetic and even political meanings – sometimes the same species of bird has been used to symbolise several different things at once. Take a look at the paintings, drawings, prints and decorative objects below, made over a period of more than 500 years: from the eagle to the kiwi, the owl to the ostrich, each bird featuring in these artworks tells a different story.
Sano di Pietro (Siena 1406-Siena 1481)
The Virgin and Child, Two Saints and six Angels
Master of the Die (active 1530-60)
Three Putti Playing with an Ostrich
Workshop of Giulio Romano (Rome c. 1499-Mantua 1546)
The Omen of Claudius's Imperial Powers
Adam Weisweiler (1744-1820)
Commode
Attributed to Frans van Mieris the Elder (Leiden 1635-Leiden 1681)
A Lady with her Parrot
Roelandt Savery (Kortrijk 1576 - Utrecht 1639)
A Landscape with Birds
Sir Peter Paul Rubens (1577-1640) and studio
Minerva, or Wisdom striking Ignorance
Melchior de Hondecoeter (Utrecht 1636-Amsterdam 1695)
Birds and a Spaniel in a Garden
Jakob Bogdani (c. 1660-1720)
Birds and Fruit in a Landscape
Rosalba Giovanna Carriera (Venice 1675-Venice 1757)
Self-Portrait as 'Innocence'
Mark Catesby (1682-1749)
The Goat-Sucker of Carolina
Thomas Rowlandson (1757-1827)
Napoleon the Little in a Rage with his Great French Eagle !!
? Italian
Snuff box
Prince Albert, Prince Consort, consort of Victoria, Queen of the United Kingdom (1819-61)
A Long-Eared Owl
Sir Edwin Landseer (1803-73)
The Lory
Auguste Bouvier (c. 1837-81)
Lesbia and the Sparrow
Henrik Immanuel Wigström (1862-1923)