Psittacus Ararauna
by LIGOZZI, Jacopo, Drawing, 670 x 456 mm
This spectacular bird is a blue and gold macaw. Today the species is threatened, but in the later sixteenth century parrots, monkeys, and other foreign-born livestock often accessorized the homes of the European nobility. These birds come from Central and South America, recalling that the Medicis were investors in Columbus’s expeditions.