Follow a subject / an authored looking sequence
A bird becomes a motif.
When does an observed animal become an organizing form?
Move from a studied bird to birds within two very different textile compositions. These are looking comparisons; their meanings and histories remain specific to each work.
01 / 1583
Dead Blue Roller
Look at the boundary between the bird and the empty sheet. The existing study identifies Hoffmann’s relationship to Dürer; the resemblance has a documented context here.
Full maker attribution
Hans Hoffmann (German, 1545/50–1591/92); after Albrecht Dürer (German, 1471–1528)
Institutional record ↗02 / c 1936
Strawberry Thief
Follow one bird through the strawberries and curling leaves. Ask how much the plant structure determines where the animal can sit.
03 / c. 1688/1732
The Elephant, from The Berain Grotesques Series
Look for the small animal forms within the larger ornamental scene. Compare their scale and role with the isolated bird on paper.
Full maker attribution
After a design by Jean Baptiste Monnoyer (1636–1699) in the style of Jean I Berain (1640–1711); border design by Jean I Berain Woven at the Manufacture Royale de Beauvais under the direction of the Behagle family (directors, 1684–1711), the Filleul brothers (codirectors, 1711–22), or Noël-Antoine Mérou (director, 1722–33) France, Beauvais
Institutional record ↗The sequence is an editorial comparison. Specific historical claims remain with their source-checked investigations.