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1 of 253523 objects
Head of a white stork c. 1630-40
Watercolour and bodycolour over black chalk | 20.8 x 27.1 cm (sheet of paper) | RCIN 928740
Attributed to Vincenzo Leonardi (1589/90-1646)
Head of a white stork c. 1630-40
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A watercolour study of the head of an European White Stork. Ornithology was the aspect of the natural world that engaged Cassiano most deeply. He owned over two hundred drawings of birds, and wrote several short treatises on the subject. The white stork is one of the largest land birds in Europe. This detail of the head was drawn for Cassiano at actual size; he also owned a drawing of the whole bird reduced in scale, to show these details in context.
Provenance
Commissioned by Cassiano dal Pozzo; from whose heirs purchased by Pope Clement XI, 1703; his nephew, Cardinal Alessandro Albani, 1721; from whom bought by George III, 1762 and thence by descent to King George V (dispersed from Royal Library between the two World Wars); London art market (most via dealer Jacob Mendelson); James R. Herbert Boone (American collector); bequeathed to Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore in 1983; Sothebyis New York, 16 September 1988; Queen Elizabeth II
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Creator(s)
Acquirer(s)
Commissioner(s)
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Medium and techniques
Watercolour and bodycolour over black chalk
Measurements
20.8 x 27.1 cm (sheet of paper)
Other number(s)
RL 28740
