Boy with Parrots and Monkeys

Collecting the world around them was important to princes and noblemen in seventeenth century Europe. Plants, animals, and even people from distant continents were placed in their palaces as examples of God’s remarkable creation. Here the Swedish court painter has painted a portrait of a young African man surrounded by exotic animals. The man is depicted at the intersection of two worlds: together with the animals he is part of the strange and mysterious but with his elegant clothes and relaxed gestures he fits in with the Swedish court milieu.