The Animals foregathering to enter the Ark, 17th century (oil on cooper)

after Jan Brueghel the elder (Brussels 1568 - Antwerp 1625). Oil painting on copper, The Animals foregathering to enter the Ark, after Jan Brueghel the elder (Brussels 1568 - Antwerp 1625). A collection of pairs of wild animals gather on the bank of a river at the far left of a pastoral scene where swans and other waterfowl are swimming. A number of exotic birds sit in the bare branches of a small tree which grows beside the river and four more birds are flying towards the tree from the right. Lions frolic beneath the tree and a white horse stands in the centre foreground. Deer, ostrich and elephants can be seen at the far right. A turbaned figure in red drives some camels with a stick towards a large tree on the right. A group of three figures, Noah, his wife and a daughter-in-law, rest with their donkeys in the centre middleground. Mountains rise up in the distance and a tiny ark is discernible; a castle/church is visible in the background at the far right. The sky is blue with amber tones behind the cloud. The painting is a copy of the original, signed and dated, 1613 at J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles and a repetition version is in the Museum of Fine Arts, Budapest. Arlington Court, Devon