Noble falcons

In “De arte venandi cum avibus”, his famous book on the falcon, Hohenstaufen Emperor Frederick II illustrates and describes the art of keeping falcons and hunting with them so accurately that his work is considered one of the most momentous from the Middle Ages. He refined the high art of hawking with help from Arabian nobles. The royal falcon should be regarded not as a minion but as a valued companion, they argued. Their size, power and graceful appearance place the gyrfalcons shown here amongst the strongest of all hunting falcons. If their plumage is snow-white like Meissen porcelain®, to boot, they are also amongst the most precious. The one is alert, erect and proud of eye, the other raring to show its hunting skills. Thus this masterpiece of animal statuary, tastefully set off with the most astute of decorative detail, brings out the properties that make these aristocratic creatures so cherished – and almost brings them to life.