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Along with Bartolomeo Bimbi (1648 – 1729), Andrea Scacciati was the most important Florentine painter of still lifes in the second half of the 17th century. Important patrons from the Tuscan aristocracy supported the versatile artist, such as Grand Duke Cosimo III. de' Medici (1642-1723), who commissioned works for the Villa dell' Ambrogiana from him. Scacciati's impressive still lifes were also very popular with the British elite, who visited Florence as part of the "Grand Tour".
In the present painting, the artist deals with the reproduction of both the well-known and rare fauna in a lively and varied way. Among native birds, such as the flying jay and great spotted woodpecker, a blue parrot and an impressive cockatoo perch on a fountain, while on the lower level, a bright red exotic ibis stands out next to a large turkey and competing mallards. Between the ornithological representations, two small tortoises are also shown on the ground.
Scacciati uses a variety of techniques as well as different brushes to render the varied birds, depending on their plumage. This "animal portrait" is not only rich in painterly detail, but also very precise and analytical in its anatomical naturalism - a characteristic of Scacciati's depictions that is probably related to the scientific advances in taxidermy that made it possible to observe rare specimens from the princely menagerie. Because of its technical accuracy and quality, Mina Gregori compares the painting to three vertical format works belonging to a series of depictions of birds given to the Guardaroba Medici in the Palazzo Vecchio, Florence, in 1734. (Inventory from 1890, no. 4713, /988, 6520)