Skeleton of a Bat

1620-1621

Teodoro Filippo di Liagno, called Napoletano

Associated Names
Teodoro Filippo di Liagno

Artist, Italian, 1589 - 1629

The image shows an anatomical illustration of a bat's skeleton. It features elongated wing bones, a rib cage, and a skull. The color palette is monochromatic, with black ink lines on a cream or light beige background. The skeleton is sideways, with its wings spread to the left side and its rib cage in the center. There is Latin text above the skeletal depiction and a small label "Pippistrello" on the lower left corner.

Media Options

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Artwork overview

  • Medium

    etching on laid paper

  • Credit Line

    Gift of Funds from Virginia Mars

  • Dimensions

    plate: 14.1 × 9.5 cm (5 9/16 × 3 3/4 in.)
    sheet: 17.4 × 11.4 cm (6 7/8 × 4 1/2 in.)

  • Accession Number

    2023.5.12

  • Catalogue Raisonné

    Chiarini, no. 426

  • Series Title

    Animal Skeletons

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

(Hill-Stone, Inc., South Dartmouth, MA); NGA purchase, 2023.

Associated Names

Exhibition History

2025

  • Little Beasts: Art Wonder and the Natural World, National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC, 2025.

Bibliography

2007

  • Chiarini, Marco. Teodoro Filippo di Liagno detto Filippo Napoletano, 1589-1629: Vite e opere. Florence: Centro Di, 2007, no. 426.

Inscriptions

in plate, at top: Sum MUS, sum VOLUCRIS mire ambigo nocti volanti / Nomina dat VESPER, dens mihi cauda mihi; in plate, at lower left: Pipistello; bottom right corner of sheet, in pen and ink by a later hand: 23

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