Study of Dead Birds

Still-life paintings were popular in the Victorian period. Their realism, simplicity and detail appealed to Victorian tastes. Many artists specialised only in still life, while for others it was one of many genres they practised.

 Helen Cordelia Angell, like many female artists of the period, would have chosen still-life and flower painting as a specialism because of the social restrictions placed on women.  Femininity for the Victorians was linked to family, motherhood, respectability and the home environment. The constructs of motherhood and domesticity kept women away from the public sphere. Still-life painting was a genre that could be practised at home.

Visual description: Two dead songbirds lie on their backs side by side on the ground, which is pale and neutral in colour. The closer bird’s plumage is vibrant green, with a hint of blue at the bottom of its wing. Its beak is short and curved. The further bird has dark turquoise plumage, except for the head and tail, which are black. The wings are edged with black feathers. It has a longer, slightly curved beak.