Abraham Bisschop and the Birds of Paradise

All Hail the King Bird of Paradise

Ceiling piece with birds (1708) by Abraham Bisschop — Dordrechts Museum, Public Domain. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ceiling_piece_with_birds,_by_Abraham_Busschop.jpg

One of the delights of writing on Medium is the opportunity to ramble down unmarked paths. And ramble I do. While writing my piece about Frans Snyder and the Fire Salamander, I was intrigued by Snyders’ inclusion of a Greater Bird-of-paradise (Paradisaea apoda) in several paintings. Many artists before Snyders had also painted these…