Red & Black Woodpeckers: An 18th Century Hand-colored Bird Engraving by Martinet
This is an original 18th century hand-colored copperplate engraving of a pair of red and black woodpecker birds entitled "1. Pie Roux, de Cayenne 2. Petit Pie Noir, de Cayenne (Red and Black Woodpeckers)" by Francois Nicolas Martinet, plate 694 from 'Histoire Naturelle des Oiseaux' in association with Georges Louis Leclerc Comte de Buffon, first published in Paris in 1765 by Edme Louis Daubento. It depicts a pair of woodpeckers; a red and a black woodpecker, perched on branches, both looking to the left. Cayenne is in northeast South America in what is now French Guiana.
Creator: François Nicolas Martinet (1731 - 1800, French)
Creation Year: 1765
Dimensions: Height: 12.38 in (31.45 cm)
Width: 9.13 in (23.2 cm)
Medium: Engraving
Condition: See description below.
This is an original 18th century hand-colored copperplate engraving of a pair of red and black woodpecker birds entitled "1. Pie Roux, de Cayenne 2. Petit Pie Noir, de Cayenne (Red and Black Woodpeckers)" by Francois Nicolas Martinet, plate 694 from 'Histoire Naturelle des Oiseaux' in association with Georges Louis Leclerc Comte de Buffon, first published in Paris in 1765 by Edme Louis Daubento. It depicts a pair of woodpeckers; a red and a black woodpecker, perched on branches, both looking to the left. Cayenne is in northeast South America in what is now French Guiana.
Creator: François Nicolas Martinet (1731 - 1800, French)
Creation Year: 1765
Dimensions: Height: 12.38 in (31.45 cm)
Width: 9.13 in (23.2 cm)
Medium: Engraving
Condition: See description below.
This is an original 18th century hand-colored copperplate engraving of a pair of red and black woodpecker birds entitled "1. Pie Roux, de Cayenne 2. Petit Pie Noir, de Cayenne (Red and Black Woodpeckers)" by Francois Nicolas Martinet, plate 694 from 'Histoire Naturelle des Oiseaux' in association with Georges Louis Leclerc Comte de Buffon, first published in Paris in 1765 by Edme Louis Daubento. It depicts a pair of woodpeckers; a red and a black woodpecker, perched on branches, both looking to the left. Cayenne is in northeast South America in what is now French Guiana.
Creator: François Nicolas Martinet (1731 - 1800, French)
Creation Year: 1765
Dimensions: Height: 12.38 in (31.45 cm)
Width: 9.13 in (23.2 cm)
Medium: Engraving
Condition: See description below.
This detailed and strikingly beautiful hand-colored copperplate engraving is printed on high quality laid chain-linked paper with large margins. The sheet measures 12.38" high and 9.13" wide. There is a tiny pinhole in the upper margin on the right. The engraving is otherwise in excellent condition.
Francois Nicolas Martinet (1731-c1804) was a French naturalist, engineer and artist, particularly as a skilled engraver. He produced engravings for numerous publication on natural history. He is best known for his bird engravings. Martinet also illustrated many plays and operas by Voltaire and others, as well as creating landscapes and scenes of Versailles and portraits of royalty and aristocrats.
George Louis Leclerc Buffon (1707-1788) was a French aristocrat who became a very prominent and respected scientist and mathematician. He was the director of the Jardin des Plantes botanical garden in Paris. He published the 36 volume Histoire Naturelle, Générale et Particulière (1749-1788) which included Martinet's bird illustrations. These engravings were later published on their own in Histoire Naturelle des Oiseaux.
Buffon was an early promoter of the the theory of evolution, recognized by Charles Darwin who acknowledged that "the first author who in modern times has treated it (evolution) in a scientific spirit was Buffon."
