Poultry Yard

A peaceful family scene is rudely interrupted by a cat overturning the basket in which a family of hens imagined their chicks to be safe. On the left, a snake slithers up, ready to pounce on the unprotected chicks. The ‘established order’ is disturbed by the turmoil caused by the cat. The picture represents the fragility of supposed security in society. The central section is densely populated by poultry. The painter lived in Rome from 1667 to 1669, in order to study classical art. In accordance with the fashion of the day, he filled in his scenes with fragments of classical architecture. On the right of the panel is a base with two columns, and on the left a shaft of a fallen fluted column, on which birds are perched. In the background is a large decorated vase that depicts a mythological scene.