Drawing

This drawing was originally part of the Paper Museum, a collection of drawings and prints assembled by the Italian scholar Cassiano dal Pozzo (1588-1657) in order to form a visual encyclopaedia of the ancient and natural worlds. It depicts an exotic parrot identified as a female ring-necked or rose ringed parakeet and was probably made in the mid-17th century. Despite Cassiano dal Pozzo’s intentions the encyclopaedia was never published.