Plate 20, from "Histoire naturelle des perroquets"
François Levaillant French
Draftsman Jacques Barraband French
Printmaker Langlois
Not on view
This plates originates from the publication Histoire naturelle des perroquets, one of several examples of the successful collaboration between Levaillant and Barraband. Their first project together transpired after Levaillant returned to France following extensive travels through Africa. Barraband provided the illustrations for Levaillant’s six-volume Histoire naturelle des oiseaux d’Afrique (1796–1808); he outdid himself, however, in the illustrations of parrot species for Histoire naturelle des perroquets, which were celebrated by contemporaries as the most lifelike renderings of birds ever made. Their strong three-dimensional quality was achieved not only through accurate drawing, but also through the combination of color printing and further additions of bright colors and shading, done by hand in watercolor.
