Today I want to do a post about the birds and the bees… Well, actually, of the birds and the fly.

I am still going through my photographical pool of memories from our visit to Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam this January. Today mentioning the master of bird-paintery, Mr. Melchior de Hondecoeter (1636-1695). And Jan Asselijn (1610-1652) with his swan.

Just look how upset this animal is.

And here is painting named “The calling of Saint Anthony” by Aertgen Claesz van Leyden (c. 1530), who put something on a woman’s white cap, right in the front center, that on first sights looks like a stain. But on closer inspection is a fly. The sign next to the painting indicated, that this was a joke of the artist. But other sources indicate, that flys were often added by artists, after the depicted deceased. So, who knows, really.