Gobe-mouche, de la Caroline

Martinet, François Nicolas, 1731- · [ca. 1770]

François Nicolas Martinet (1725-1804), a French artist living during the late Enlightenment Era, blends science with art in his numerous works. His passion for ornithology led him to collaborate with several notable natural historians, including Georges-Louis Leclerc, Count of Buffon. Martinet created a total of one thousand eight prints for Buffon's extensive Histoire Naturelle des Oiseaux, from which the plates in this collection derive. Depicting birds in their natural habitats, the plates began as copperplate engravings and later received color from an unknown colorist, possibly Martinet himself. These avian prints emphasize scientific accuracy and natural beauty. Gobe-mouche, de la Caroline portrays a Carolina Flycatcher. Printed c. 1770- 1786, the engraving was originally intended to be plate six hundred seventy-six of Histoire Naturelle des Oiseaux. Martinet artfully composes the flycatcher- alternatively known as the Tyrant of Caroline or the Eastern Kingbird- with a branch indicative of its natural habitat. The Carolina flycatcher stands primarily in profile, a common pose for avian subjects; however, Martinet struggles to align the tail feathers, presenting a slightly skewed, composite point of view. Accurate shading and color endow Gobe-mouche, de la Caroline with lifelike realism.