Forest Floor Still Life with Birds, Butterflies and a Lizard, Melchior d'Hondecoeter, c. 1668

oil on canvas, h 66cm × w 52.5cm × d 7.3cm More details

D’Hondecoeter specialized in painting birds, which he portrayed as lifelike as possible, such as the chaffinch at the upper right in this still life. On this forest floor, in addition to birds, he painted butterflies and a common wall lizard. However, there is more to it than that. He used real butterfly wings for the butterflies and worked the wet paint with a sponge or cloth to suggest the moss, thereby creating an optimally realistic effect.