Cornelis van Lelienbergh

Dr. Hans Wetzlar, Amsterdam, acquired after 1952.

Paris, 1960, no. 134;
Laren, 1966, no. 32.

L.J. Bol, Holländische Maler des 17. Jahrhunderts nahe den grossen Meistern, Braunschweig 1969, p. 286, reproduced p. 285, fig. 268.

"The following condition report has been provided by Henry Gentle, an independent restorer who is not an employee of Sotheby's. The oak panel is in a good condition. It has a small hairline split to the top edge, centre, and to the top left hand corner .The paint layer is slightly raised in some areas but secure with a diagonal restored scratch to the lower left foliage. There is a restored damage to the left hand edge and the bottom right hand corner. Under ultra-violet light some of the darker areas to the bird's plumage can be seen to be augmented along with some small areas to the foreground. Overall, though, in a good untouched condition with fine surface texture and subtle details intact. Removing the discoloured varnish would improve the tonality. Offered in a plain gilt frame, with some losses."
"This lot is offered for sale subject to Sotheby's Conditions of Business, which are available on request and printed in Sotheby's sale catalogues. The independent reports contained in this document are provided for prospective bidders' information only and without warranty by Sotheby's or the Seller."

This robust and monumental profile portrait of a Bittern of decidedly imperious demeanour is most unusual in Dutch 17th-century painting and possibly unique for Lelienbergh, a still life painter from The Hague who, like his contemporaries, more usually depicted such birds in game still lifes: hanging lifeless from a nail or piled up with other spoils of the chase. 

Bitterns were almost certainly more widespread in The Netherlands in the 17th Century than they are today.  The booming mating call of the male, ringing out across marsh and fen, would then have been a familiar sound to all other than the most died-in-the-wool city-dweller.  The Dutch name Roerdomp derives from the dialect word for his habitat of reeds - Roer (which is closer to the German Rohr than to the Dutch Riet) - and dompen - the old name for his booming call, which sounds like "hoemp".   The Latin name, Botauris stellaris, is also partly derived from the bittern's call, since botauris means roaring bull, and stellaris refers to the star-shaped designs on his plumage.