Goose with Outspread Wings

This study of a goose with outspread wings, held at the Victoria and Albert Museum, exemplifies Stubbs's sustained interest in birds as subjects for anatomical and compositional investigation. While horses and exotic carnivores dominate his reputation, Stubbs painted numerous bird studies throughout his career, and the dramatic spread of a goose's wings offered a formal challenge: how to render the overlapping layers of primary, secondary, and covert feathers as both scientifically accurate and visually compelling. The study may have had a practical purpose connected to his Comparative Anatomy project, an unfinished but extraordinarily ambitious undertaking in which Stubbs intended to compare the skeletal and muscular structures of humans, tigers, and chickens across multiple engraved plates. Birds in full wing extension expose the skeletal architecture of flight in ways that a resting bird cannot. The V&A's collection situates the work within the tradition of natural history art, alongside Stubbs's broader contributions to British painting.

Oil on canvas. The composition is dominated by the dramatic diagonal of the outstretched wings, which Stubbs renders feather by feather with a fine brush. The tonal structure moves from the deep grey-brown primaries at the wingtips through lighter secondary feathers to the bright white undertail coverts, creating a natural light gradient across the bird's body.