A Hen with Peacocks and a Turkey

The big dark bird in front is a turkey, and around 1680, when this was painted, it was still a fairly recent arrival. Turkeys came from the Americas and reached Europe only in the 1500s, while peacocks had come from Asia long before, and wealthy Dutch owners kept both as birds for show. Melchior d'Hondecoeter gathers them at the foot of a stone column and then tells a small story among them. A white hen, head down, is guarding her chicks, and the larger, grander birds tower over her little family. The peacock in the middle has its beak open as if calling out. This canvas did not come from a royal palace. It belonged to the Amsterdam banker Adriaan van der Hoop, who left his collection to the city in 1854, and it is still on loan to the museum from Amsterdam.