I spotted this on the Daily Art app, which I frequent quite often. This 1856 painting was done by early Pre-Raphaelite painter William James Webbe. It was exhibited at the Royal Academy for a time.
Webbe was an early convert to Pre-Raphaelitism. Allen Staley wrote about Webbe in his book The Pre-Raphaelite Landscape (1973), and noted that two of his works dating from 1854–55 are of “Pre-Raphaelite elaboration of microscopic foreground detail pushed to an almost insane extreme”.[1] In 1862 Webbe pilgrimaged to Jerusalem and the Middle East and began to paint Eastern subjects.[2][3][1] Webbe’s journey was probably inspired by English painter and one of the founders of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood William Holman Hunt, who visited the Holy Land in 1854–1856, 1869–1872, 1875–1878, and 1892. Wikipedia
As with all Pre-Raphaelite works, the detail in The Owl is astonishing. The vine leaves on the side, the proud expression, the sheen of the feathers on the head and the varied colouration of feathers throughout the coat make for an excellent rendering of the owl. I particularly love the claws holding onto the wall, as well as the little mouse which has seen better days. The termite holes in the wood are also an astonishing detail. The sheen of the feathers is striking, as is the sheen on the beak. The little varies feathers poking through are quite spectacular.
Overall, I think this is a lovely piece which shows great artistic merit. When it was listed at Christies they included the below poem, which I think is quite lovely.
When cats run home and light is come,
And dew is cold upon the ground,
And the far-off stream is dumb,
And the whirring sail goes round,
And the whirring sail goes round;
Alone and warming his five wits,
The white owl in the belfry sits.When merry milkmaids click the latch,
And rarely smells the new-mown hay,
And the cock hath sung beneath the thatch
Twice or thrice his roundelay,
Twice or thrice his roundelay;
Alone and warming his five wits,
The white owl in the belfry sits.Alfred Tennyson