Well, if you’re going to outshine your peers, let it be by such a striking margin.  Here Leigh Fermor is referring to the paintings of Albrecht Altdorfer (c. 1480-1538).

‘But he outshines his fellow-Danubians like a lyre-bird among carrion-crows.’

Source: Patrick Leigh Fermor, A Time of Gifts (London: Penguin Books, 1977), p. 149

Image credit: SridharRaj at pixabay.com