 The Pieter Withoos painting , which was discovered first , appears to be based on an earlier painting by Pieter Holsteyn , three versions of which are known to have existed . According to Hume , Cheke , and Valledor de Lozoya , it appears that all depictions of white dodos were based on Roelant Savery 's 1611 painting Landscape with Orpheus and the animals , or on copies of it . The painting shows a whitish specimen and was apparently based on a stuffed specimen then in Prague ; a <unk> described as having a " dirty off @-@ white colouring " was mentioned in an inventory of specimens in the Prague collection of the Holy Roman Emperor Rudolf II , to whom Savery was contracted at the time ( 1607 – 1611 ) . Savery 's several later images all show greyish birds , possibly because he had by then seen another specimen . Cheke and Hume believe the painted specimen was white , owing to albinism . Valledor de Lozoya has instead suggested that the light plumage was a juvenile trait , a result of bleaching of old taxidermy specimens , or simply artistic license . 
