Félix Bracquemond

Bracquemond based this print on a scene he observed on a farm in the French village of Villers-Cotterêts. In an earlier state, carefully represented birds and a bat nailed to a barn door, capturing details such as feathers and the door’s wood grain with exacting accuracy.

In later states, Bracquemond added a moralizing tone through the addition of a small wooden plaque below the birds. It contained a verse that played upon the French word voler—meaning both “to fly” and “to steal”—suggesting that, like humans, birds must pay the price for taking what is not theirs.