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Inscription

Upper center in red ink: PRIVS LOCVSTA BOVEM. (“Sooner will a locust give birth to a cow.” Erasmus, _Adages_, 2.1.89) (trans. Bass 2019, 236); insects in image numbered .1., .2., and .3., in red ink; center right in brown ink: XXXXIV.
Facing page:
Upper center in blue/black ink: Dabo prodigia in coelo et in terra: sanguinem et / Ignem, et vaporem fumi. Joel:2: (“I will show wonders in heaven; and in earth, blood, and fire, and vapor of smoke.” Joel 2:30) (Latin Vulgate Bible)

Provenance

Emperor Rudolph of Austria; Lessing J. Rosenwald, Alverthorpe, PA; gift to NGA, 1987.

Exhibition History

1998
A Collector's Cabinet, National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1998, no. 76.
1999
From Botany to Bouquets: Flowers in Northern Art, National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1999, no. 45, as Iris from Animalia Rationalia et Insecta (Ignis).
2002
Deceptions and Illusions: Five Centuries of Trompe l'Oeil Painting, National Gallery of Art, Washington, 2002-2003, no. 30, as Ignis (Animalia Rationalia et Insecta) Plate 47.

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