Johannes Bronckhorst (Dutch, 1648-1727)
An Asian Elephant, a Lion and a Civet Cat in a Landscape
Pen and black ink and watercolor and gum arabic within brown ink framing lines
Signed lower right: J. B. fec.
Paper size: 13 5/8 x 10 3/4 in. 
Frame size: 25 1/2 x 22 in.

Provenance: Pieter van den Brande or Johan Pieter van den Brande, Middleburg; by descent to E. C. Baron van Pallandt; his sale Amsterdam, Mak van Waay, 26 September 1972, lot 290; and Unicorno Collection.

Exhibitons: Amsterdam/Dordrecht 1994-1995, cat. no. 30.
Literature: Anne M. Zaal, “Herman Henstenburgh 1667-1726,” Dissertation (Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam, 1991), reproduced vol.1, fig.20; W. W. Robinson, Seventeenth-Century Dutch
Drawings: A Selection from the Maida and George Abrams Collection, Exh. Cat. (Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum, Vienna, Graphische Sammlung Albertina, New York, Pierpont Morgan Library, and Cambridge, Mass., Fogg Art Museum, 1991-1992), p 222, note 2.

During the early seventeenth century, there was an increasing interest in exotic animals, leading to the establishment of menageries and aviaries across Europe. Due to trade expansion and exploration, wild animals were captured and brought back to Europe as objects of curiosity and scientific specimens. Initially, these creatures were kept in royal collections, and artists were often employed to paint them.

Johannes Bronckhorst was a watercolor artist who specialized in painting exotic and indigenous birds individually or several to a sheet and occasionally depicting mammals. This artwork from the Unicorno Collection is an excellent example of a rare subject in his oeuvre. It originated from the Van den Brande Collection in Middelburg, and it’s possible that that family commissioned or purchased this drawing directly from the artist.

In this beautiful watercolor, Bronckhorst spectacularly showcases the full range of his skills. He creates an impressive synthesis between scientific accuracy and the decorative and exotic aspects of natural history that royal and private clients highly valued. In his presentations, Bronckhorst situates the animals within a setting that provides a guide to scale and an impression of their natural habitats.

This striking watercolor is a valuable record of the beginning of scientific discovery and aesthetic appreciation and an outstanding example of one of the masters of natural history painting.