568
London, Dresden, Oxford, Haarlem, Emden, Stuttgart, the Haag and Pommersfelden,
Bavaria. He also settles the matter of ornithological debate—was the Dodo a
Struthion (Linnaeus called it Struthio cucullatus = cucullated, or hooded), some
kind of vulture, or a giant, specialized pigeon? And he adapts his drawings from the
many earlier renditions produced in 1601, 1606, 1605, 1634, 1635, 1658, 1752,
1757, 1758, and 1766, fully apprised, of course, of the H.E. Strickland and
A.G. Melville plates throughout their definitive work, The Dodo And Its Kindred;
Or The History, Affinities, And Osteology Of The Dodo, Solitaire, And Other Extinct
Birds Of The Islands Mauritius, Rodriguez, And Bourbon, (1848).
52
Ultimately, we are left with an odd friendship—that of a Flemish painter, a Holy
Roman Emperor, and a bird—whose respective coordinates in natural history are
emblematic of a huge fly in a rancid ointment; of that flaw bound by human nature
residing behind castle walls. Its secrets revealed, we are left with a magnificent, if
dolorous chaos. And the most problematic of paradoxes: humanity’s so-called love
affair with birds
53
(Fig. 59.7).
52 Reeve, Benham, and Reeve, London 1848. It should be pointed out that in Return of the Crazy
Bird – The Sad, Strange Tale Of The Dodo, by Clara Pinto-Correia suggests that by the mid-1800s
(the 1848 Strickland book, The Dodo and Its Kindred, there were only “five” “dodo oil paintings”
known to exist. Copernicus Books, Imprint of Springer Verlag New York, 2003, p. 151.
53 The most complete record, to date, of Roelant Savery’s oeuvre is that of Kurt J. Müllenmeister’s
Roelant Savery, Kortrijk 1576–1639 Utrecht, Hofmaler Kaiser Rudolf II. In Prag, Die Gemälde
Mit Kritischem Oeuvrekatalog, Luca Verlag Freren 1988. Additionally, there is the Praag, Národni
galerie, Kortrijk, Broelmuseum exhibition catalogue from 8 December 2010–10 March 2011, and
21 April 2011 – 11 September 2011, Roelandt Savery 1576–1639. Broelmuseum Kortrijk, Snoeck.
In addition, Roelandt Savery 1576-–1639, Museum Voor Schone Kunsten, Gent, 10 April – 13 Juni
1954; and Roeland Savery, Kataloog, Herdenking, Tentoonstelling Georganizeerd Naar Aanleiding
Van De 400ste Verjaardag Van De Geboorte Van De Kunstschilder, 25 April 7 Juni 1976, Stedelijk
Museum Voor Schone Kunsten, Kortrijk.
59 Savery’s Castle of Secrets
London, Dresden, Oxford, Haarlem, Emden, Stuttgart, the Haag and Pommersfelden,
Bavaria. He also settles the matter of ornithological debate—was the Dodo a
Struthion (Linnaeus called it Struthio cucullatus = cucullated, or hooded), some
kind of vulture, or a giant, specialized pigeon? And he adapts his drawings from the
many earlier renditions produced in 1601, 1606, 1605, 1634, 1635, 1658, 1752,
1757, 1758, and 1766, fully apprised, of course, of the H.E. Strickland and
A.G. Melville plates throughout their definitive work, The Dodo And Its Kindred;
Or The History, Affinities, And Osteology Of The Dodo, Solitaire, And Other Extinct
Birds Of The Islands Mauritius, Rodriguez, And Bourbon, (1848).
52
Ultimately, we are left with an odd friendship—that of a Flemish painter, a Holy
Roman Emperor, and a bird—whose respective coordinates in natural history are
emblematic of a huge fly in a rancid ointment; of that flaw bound by human nature
residing behind castle walls. Its secrets revealed, we are left with a magnificent, if
dolorous chaos. And the most problematic of paradoxes: humanity’s so-called love
affair with birds
53
(Fig. 59.7).
52 Reeve, Benham, and Reeve, London 1848. It should be pointed out that in Return of the Crazy
Bird – The Sad, Strange Tale Of The Dodo, by Clara Pinto-Correia suggests that by the mid-1800s
(the 1848 Strickland book, The Dodo and Its Kindred, there were only “five” “dodo oil paintings”
known to exist. Copernicus Books, Imprint of Springer Verlag New York, 2003, p. 151.
53 The most complete record, to date, of Roelant Savery’s oeuvre is that of Kurt J. Müllenmeister’s
Roelant Savery, Kortrijk 1576–1639 Utrecht, Hofmaler Kaiser Rudolf II. In Prag, Die Gemälde
Mit Kritischem Oeuvrekatalog, Luca Verlag Freren 1988. Additionally, there is the Praag, Národni
galerie, Kortrijk, Broelmuseum exhibition catalogue from 8 December 2010–10 March 2011, and
21 April 2011 – 11 September 2011, Roelandt Savery 1576–1639. Broelmuseum Kortrijk, Snoeck.
In addition, Roelandt Savery 1576-–1639, Museum Voor Schone Kunsten, Gent, 10 April – 13 Juni
1954; and Roeland Savery, Kataloog, Herdenking, Tentoonstelling Georganizeerd Naar Aanleiding
Van De 400ste Verjaardag Van De Geboorte Van De Kunstschilder, 25 April 7 Juni 1976, Stedelijk
Museum Voor Schone Kunsten, Kortrijk.
59 Savery’s Castle of Secrets