A concert of birds

Antwerp artist Paul de Vos worked closely with his brother-in-law, the celebrated painter of birds and animals, Frans Snyders. The prototype for the present work originated with Snyders, who painted similar large-scale Concerts of Birds, examples of which are now in the Hermitage, Saint Petersburg, and the Museo del Prado, Madrid. Like Snyders, De Vos found great success with such scenes among an elite, international clientele. He counted among his patrons Charles-Philip, Duc d'Arenberg, in Madrid, and the first Marqués de Leganés, also in Spain. According to biographer Cornelis de Bie, Emperor Ferdinand III also owned works by De Vos. Monumental animal scenes like the present work were highly sought after by this milieu, in part because they served as the ideal furnishing for the grand 'hunting lodges' popular in seventeenth-century courtly circles throughout Europe. The quintessential example of such a residence was Philip IV's Torre de la Parada outside Madrid. Although Snyders was the individual given the commission, many of the animal scenes for the Torre de la Parada have proven to be by De Vos.