around 1578 -1639 · Prague Court, animals and fantastic landscape

Abundant wildlife, fantastic rocks and naturalistic precision make Roelant Savery one of the great inventors of the European animal landscape.

Roelant Savery was born in Kortrijk around 1578 and died in Utrecht in 1639. After religious unrest, his Protestant family reached Bruges then Haarlem. He probably trained with his brother Jacob Savery and around 1603 joined the court of Emperor Rudolf II in Prague, an exceptional center where artists, scholars, natural collections and curiosities from around the world met. Sent to Tyrol, Savery designed mountains, waterfalls, rocks and forests which he then reused in imaginary landscapes. At court, he also observed many exotic animals and created the most famous painted representations of the now-defunct dodo. Orpheus charming animals condenses his art: the musical hero occupies a discreet place while horses, birds, felines, deer and rare creatures form a meticulously differentiated assembly. The mythological subject justifies the coexistence of species from incompatible environments; painting becomes at the same time an encyclopedia, theater and earthly paradise. Back in the Netherlands, Savery worked in Amsterdam then settled in Utrecht in 1619. He also painted bouquets of flowers, villages and rocky landscapes, often animated by dramatic light. His works influence the development of floral still life and Dutch animal painting. At home, the accuracy of a feather or coat is never opposed to the fantastic: it makes credible a world where all creation seems united in the same space. The "Roelant Savery" selection notably compares Orpheus charming animals. His reading favors color.

Savery paints nature as a living collection: each animal is observed precisely, but all inhabit an impossible world.