Jean Theodore Descourtilz (1796 – 1855)

ZOOLOGICAL

Jean Theodore Descourtilz was a French naturalist, painter and illustrator and the son of a botanist. He was a noted ornithological artist who published Oiseaux brillans du Bresil in Paris in 1834, from which these selected images originate. Descourtilz was an interested and meticulous observer, concerned about the accuracy of his notes which concisely described the habits and appearance of each species. He was a member of the Société Linnéenne de Paris and of the Société Auxiliaire de l'Industrie de Rio de Janeiro. In 1855 he died of arsenic poisoning caused by chemicals he used in the preparation of specimens.