Between 1863 and 1870, Heade made three trips to South America and the Caribbean to paint hummingbirds. He hunted for the elusive birds in thick jungles, examined specimen collections, and consulted scientific texts by well-known naturalists. He then translated his accumulated knowledge into small oil paintings and made plans to produce a lavish illustrated volume called “The Gems of Brazil,” which he never completed.

In this painting, Heade renders the Amethyst Woodstar hummingbird and the Cattleya purpurata orchid at lifescale and up close to the picture plane, following the prevailing conventions of natural history illustration. But unlike most ornithological images of his era, which typically pictured specimens against a blank backdrop, Heade positions his birds in a tropical landscape. The dense, visually impenetrable undergrowth hints at the challenges facing those who hoped to encounter these elusive birds in the wild.

—Text taken from the Carter Handbook (2023)