The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. 2001-07.
Hondecoeter, Melchior d’
(ml´khôr d hn´dktr) (KEY) , 1636–95, Dutch animal painter. His grandfather, Gillis d’Hondecoeter (d. 1638) and his father, Gysbert d’Hondecoeter (1604–1653), were landscape and animal painters. After four years at The Hague, where he painted The Menagerie of William III at Loo, Melchior settled in Amsterdam. He painted all forms of animal life, but is best known for his depiction of birds and fowl, in which he has few equals. Representative works, executed in a smooth, precise style, include the Dead Cock (Brussels) and The Floating Feather (Amsterdam).
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