Girl with hummingbirds 1883

Vittorio Matteo Corcos created this oil on canvas painting titled, *Girl with hummingbirds*. While undated, it situates itself within the late 19th-century Italian context, a period marked by industrial growth and social change. Corcos, who was employed as a portraitist of the Italian upper class, here depicts a woman in profile, gazing down at two hummingbirds fluttering around an ornate fan. This painting invites questions about gender, class, and the natural world. Is she a figure of delicate beauty, or a woman confined by the social expectations of her time? The hummingbirds, symbols of agility and freedom, create a striking contrast to the woman’s poised stillness. This contrast invites reflection on the constraints placed upon women in 19th century European society, and the yearning for liberation. In viewing this piece, we might consider how these historical tensions resonate with our contemporary understanding of identity and self-expression.