The Kongouro from New Holland

George Stubbs painted The Kongouro from New Holland around 1772, one of the first accurate artistic depictions of the kangaroo ever made, painted from sketches brought back by Joseph Banks on Cook's first voyage (1768–71). The painting was a commission from Banks himself, who needed an accurate scientific illustration of the extraordinary animal he had observed in Australia. Stubbs never saw a live kangaroo but worked from Banks's descriptions, sketches, and possibly preserved specimens, yet produced an image that captures the kangaroo's essential anatomical character with remarkable accuracy. The painting represents the meeting of Stubbs's scientific rigor and the period's expanding encounter with the natural world through exploration.

Stubbs applies his anatomical expertise to an animal he knew only from a preserved specimen, rendering it against a generalized landscape. Despite working from a skin rather than life, his understanding of musculature produces a surprisingly naturalistic result.