Still-Life with Pheasants (Pheasants)

Purkyně painted the picture for the family of the counts Hilprandt at their Blatná manor, where his father used to hold the post of private tutor. The naturalism of the still-life, most unusual in contemporaneous art, was severely condemned by the art critics of the day. Purkyně, however, handled the whole picture in a uniform manner, while wishing to remain faithful to nature. He used dark pastose colours to give plasticity to the depicted forms, while structuring their substance, one of the most characteristic traits of his art.