Bird, Perhaps an Egret, Seen in Profile with One Wing Lifted 1685 - 1755

Count Giorgio Duranti made this drawing of a bird, perhaps an egret, in pen and wash on paper in the first half of the 18th century. Duranti was an Italian nobleman, and his images of birds were produced in the context of a Europe-wide fascination with the natural world. The drawing uses the visual language of scientific illustration that was gaining popularity at the time. The relatively plain background helps direct the viewer's attention to the subject's anatomical details, such as the texture of the feathers or the shape of the beak and wings. Duranti's images played a role in shaping scientific thought and a growing culture of collecting. Aristocrats began creating private collections of exotic specimens to document and order the natural world. To truly understand the meaning of Duranti's image, we would need to place it within the history of science and collecting. We could look at period books on ornithology and consult inventories of natural history collections. The meaning of art is always contingent on the social and institutional context in which it is made and received.