The ornithology of Agnes Block (1629–1704): Dutch naturalist, artist, collector and patron

Abstract

Agnes Block (1629–1704) was a Dutch Mennonite naturalist, collector and patron, as well as an artist herself. In a family portrait by Jan Weenix (1642–1719) depicting Block at her renowned garden estate De Vijverhof near Wageningen, it is the fruiting pineapple, Ananas comosus, believed to be the first to be successfully cultivated in the Dutch Republic, which usually receives the most attention. However, while best known for such horticultural achievements and botanical interests, little attention has been paid to her ornithological endeavours. Block is known to have kept an aviary as well as a natural history cabinet which probably included specimens of birds. She also commissioned at least 18 artists to work for her, and had her exotic birds documented on paper just as she did her plants. In Weenix's painting, it is a drawing of a bird she proudly displays. What bird is it, and why does it matter? This paper offers an identification of the bird depicted – Cyanerpes cyaneus (red-legged honeycreeper) found only in Neotropical America – and considers what it can tell us about Block's unrecognized place in early modern European ornithology.