That is assuming the bird was alive. It could perhaps have been painted from an imported dead specimen, based on information that the species may already have been kept as pets in the region it came from. Crazy suggestion? Maybe – but Audubon had a captive Snowy Owl but decided to kill it, so that he could set it up in the lifelike pose he wanted, so that he could paint its portrait. Philip —–Original Message—–From: Birding-Aus [mailto:birding-aus-bounces@birding-aus.org] On Behalf Of Ed Williams Sent: Wednesday, 19 March 2014 10:29 AM To: Bill Stent; birding-aus@birding-aus.org Subject: Re: [Birding-Aus] Sulphur-Crested Cockatoo in Renaissance painting Interesting. Yellow-crested Cockatoos existed across central Indonesia (and were once very common) so my guess would be that is what it is (rather than an Aussie bird). Still it must have been a very tough bird that made it across to Europe either via one of the “silk roads” or the trade routes round India and up the Red Sea – journeys that were no mean feat. It should be remembered that there was a huge amount of trading between the east and the west during that period but controlled through the Middle East not Europe (hence Portugal’s desire to find an alternative way to get there round Africa only a couple of years after this painting was said to be painted). Cheers, Ed > Date: Wed, 19 Mar 2014 10:02:44 +1100 > From: billstent@gmail.com> To: birding-aus@birding-aus.org > Subject: [Birding-Aus] Sulphur-Crested Cockatoo in Renaissance painting > > A colleage has just asked me about this. > > I’m stumped. How did a cocky get to Italy in AD 1496? > > Any thoughts? Is it a hoax? > > Bill > > http://newsroom.melbourne.edu/news/aussie-bird-renaissance-artwork-for > ces-history-rethink _______________________________________________ Birding-Aus mailing list Birding-Aus@birding-aus.org To change settings or unsubscribe visit: http://birding-aus.org/mailman/listinfo/birding-aus_birding-aus.org