1636, Amsterdam –1695, Utrecht
Melchior de Hondecoeter, or Hondecoutre, or Hondekoeter, or Hondecooten, was a Dutch Golden Age painter, engraver, draughtsman, and interior decorator belonging to the North Holland School, specializing in still lifes and animals.
He is the most famous member of a family of artists, probably originally from Antwerp, who came to the Netherlands because of their Protestant religious faith: both his father, Gijsbert, and his grandfather, Gillis, were painters.
He learned the art of painting from his father and, after his father’s death in 1653, continued his studies with Jan Baptist Weenix, who had married his father’s sister, Josina.
The subjects of his works were primarily hunting scenes, in the style of his uncle Jan Baptist Weenix, still lifes, especially of vegetation and animals in a natural setting, such as a forest, landscapes, animals, plants, and trompe-l’oeil.
The backgrounds of his paintings often reveal the influence of Dutch Italianate painters.
His large paintings of birds are also famous, earning him the nickname Raphaël des oiseaux. He worked in particular for Adolphe Visscher, decorating his castle in Driemond with a series of more than 50 canvases depicting birds.
He produced works of all sizes, from small studio paintings to large exhibition paintings.
Due to the sumptuousness, movement, and vivacity found in his works, which reveal Flemish influences, this artist can be considered a precursor of the Rococo movement.
His pupils included Willem Hendrik Wilhelmus van Royen and his cousin Jan Weenix. According to the Web Gallery of Art, however, Melchior and his cousin Jan were both pupils of Jan’s father, Jan Baptist Weenix.
Hondecoeter had several followers, including D. Birrius, Peter Casteels (III), and Adriaen van Oolen, and his works influenced artists such as Felice Boselli, Angelo Maria Crivelli, Tobias Stranover, Charles Collins, Marmaduke Cradock, Adriaen Coorte, Jan van Huysum, and Elias Vonck.
source: wikipedia
