A Garden Scene with Waterfowl
- Artist: Anthonie van Borssum
- Date: probably about 1660-5
- Medium: oil on canvas
- Museum: The National Gallery
- Collection record: The National Gallery website
Listen to the free audio guide
About this artwork
"This is "A Garden Scene with Waterfowl" by Anthonie van Borssum. Painted in the Dutch tradition, we see a walled park or formal gardens of a grand house. The landscape creates a slightly mysterious air - the trees are backlit by a bright sky and the long reflection across the pond leads our eye to the open gate beyond.
In the foreground, a woman is feeding exotic waterfowl from the window of a garden house. These birds were fashionable among wealthy landowners at the time, and van Borssum was known for his versatile style, often painting landscapes and pictures of plants and animals.
This particular piece may have been influenced by the work of Melchior d'Hondecoeter, who specialized in painting birds. Van Borssum was born in Amsterdam and may have even studied under Rembrandt between 1645 and 1650. The exact date of this painting is unknown, but it's likely to be from the early 1660s."
See it in person
A Garden Scene with Waterfowl hangs in The National Gallery on Trafalgar Square, London — free to enter. Point your phone at any artwork there and audioguide.london plays a free audio guide in six languages — no app download needed.
