Roelandt Savery

Roelandt Savery was a Flemish painter known for detailed, imaginative scenes of animals and nature. Born in 1576, he worked for a time at the court of the art-loving Holy Roman Emperor in Prague, where he had access to exotic animals and rare specimens. He filled his paintings with lush landscapes crowded with birds and beasts, often gathered together as in the biblical scene of the animals entering the ark.

He is especially famous today for his paintings of the dodo, the flightless bird that soon became extinct. His careful images are among the most important records we have of how the dodo looked. Savery's richly populated scenes of nature combine artistry with a real fascination for the variety of the living world.