Flemish school; 17th century.

Flemish school; 17th century.
"Concert of birds".
Oil on canvas. Relined.
Measurements: 105 x 127 cm; 122 x 145 cm (frame).
Birds of different species come together in a landscape of ochre tones. The apparent chaos in which the animals have been portrayed and the abundance of different types of birds, to which several rabbits are added, create a sensation of variegation and confusion that connect with the taste for the dynamism and the theatrical so characteristic in the Baroque period. The legacy of the Flemish school palpitates in every detail: in the chromatic plasticity, the luminosity and the precious attention with which the feathers and heads have been reproduced. The birds, represented with great naturalism, give rise to a composition crossed by the vertical lines drawn by the branches, thus providing some movement, a detail that contributes to the fact that the animals focus their sight towards different points.
During the 17th century, in central Europe there was a growing demand for paintings to decorate the houses of the bourgeoisie. Apart from portraits and large canvases with religious, historical or mythological themes, artists specialized, painting medium-sized works that gradually increased in format, with still lifes, animals, landscapes and genre scenes. The masters of still lifes were the Dutch of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, who laid the foundations of a pictorial genre that reached great popularity and became one of the most demanded in the nineteenth century, influenced by a social change linked to an incipient bourgeoisie. This type of works were very common among students of painting as well as among professionals and the most advanced amateurs since the seventeenth century.