Large Owl Perched on Screen Magnet

Owls have a stoic gaze, or so it would appear. This is because they are the only birds that cannot move their eyes in their sockets. Mankes captures this barn owl with its head turned 90 degrees towards him. The bird of prey was trained to the hand, so it was relatively easy for Mankes to observe and paint the animal. In this picture, the owl poses on a gold leather fire screen. The same simplified means of depiction can also be seen in the striking animal statues and woodcuts by Mankes’ contemporary Samuel Jessurun de Mesquita.