Oil on canvas, 36cm by 46.5cm. In a carved and gilded frame.
The painting was purchased by John, 5th Earl of Exeter whilst on one of his first Grand Tours and appears in the 1688 Burghley Inventory: “My Lord’s Clossett…a Catt & birds litle (sic) picture no frame ___ by —”
De Coninck, a Fleming, was an accomplished painter of birds and animals, usually in a landscape setting and often depicting scenes of great activity, with some of his subjects under attack. The suggestion here is that the attack has already taken place.
