Great Bird Paintings of the World: The eighteenth century

Book excerpt: In this second volume of a five-part series Christine Jackson illustrates works by major artists of the period, including Pieter Casteels, Marmaduke Cradock, Willem Frederick van Royen, Tobias Stranover, Jakob Bogdani and Abraham Bisschop. She not only discusses the artists and their frequent use of symbolism in the paintings, but also gives us many fascinating glimpses into bird behaviour. The combination of the author's scholarly research and ornithological knowledge has cast new light on this subject and the result is a book which will appeal to everyone interested in art and ornithology.