Plate 44: Godwit(?) and Sandpipers with Two Gourds

c.1575/1590s

Joris Hoefnagel

Associated Names
Joris Hoefnagel

Artist, Flemish, 1542 - 1600

This painting depicts several birds on a small patch of land with two hanging fruits in an enclosed setting. The central bird is blue, standing on one leg on a small mound of grass surrounded by water. On either side of this bird, there are two more birds, one with a darker body and another with white and brown plumage, both with long beaks. The scene is enclosed in a circle with two large fruits hanging from a curved branch that stretches across the top. The background is a bare, beige parchment, and the number "XXXIV" is inscribed to the right. The style resembles early natural history illustrations, emphasizing detailed and realistic portrayals of wildlife.

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Artwork overview

  • Medium

    watercolor and gold paint on parchment

  • Credit Line

    Gift of Mrs. Lessing J. Rosenwald

  • Dimensions

    page size (approximate): 14.3 x 18.4 cm (5 5/8 x 7 1/4 in.)

  • Accession Number

    1987.20.8.45

  • Series Title

    Animalia Volatilia et Amphibia (Aier)

Associated Artworks

See all 72 artworks

Animalia Volatilia et Amphibia (Aier)

Joris Hoefnagel

1575

This is a painting of decorative text. The artwork features ornate calligraphy surrounded by elaborate embellishments. The central text reads "ANIMALIA VOLATILIA ET AMPHIBIA," encased within a rectangular frame. Decorative elements include colorful flourishes, ribbons, and floral patterns. At the top, a blue and gold emblem with the word "AIER" is featured. Below, there is a smaller inscription, and at the bottom, additional Latin text is included. This is in the style of an illuminated manuscript or an ornately bordered page from a classical book.

Title Page

Joris Hoefnagel

1570

This is a painting of an ostrich and another bird with an inscription. The painting depicts a large ostrich in the center, with intricate feather detailing and slender legs. Another bird, possibly a starling, stands atop a mound. The terrain features soft hills and sandy ground. An inscription in Latin frames the image. This is in the style of early scientific illustration.

Plate 1: Two Ostriches and a Starling

Joris Hoefnagel

1570

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

Emperor Rudolf II of Austria?[1]; Secretarius Heinrich Hagen, Vienna, 1611.[2] Count Emanuel Maria Joseph von Arco, Munich, 1751.[3] Graf von Seinsheim, canon of Salzburg and Speyer, 1753. Master stonemason Rüpfel, Munich, c. 1830. Joseph Anton Niggl [1792 - 1842], Markt Tölz. Karl August von Brentano [1817 - 1896], Augsburg. (sale, Rudolph Weigel, 28 October 1861, no. 2220-a-d]; (Frederick Startridge Ellis [active 1860 - 1885], London; formerly identified as F. S. Eliot)[3]; Henry Huth [1815 - 1878], London; by descent to his son, Alfred Henry Huth [1850 - 1910], London; (sale, Sotheby's' London, 12 June 1913, no. 3722); (William Wesley & Son, London); Charles Francis George Richard Schwerdt, Old Alresford House, Hampshire (his sale, Sotheby's' London, 15 July 1946, no. 2216); (The Rosenbach Company, Philadelphia); Lessing J. Rosenwald, Jenkintown; given to Edith Goodkind Rosenwald, Jenkintown; gift to NGA, 1987.
[1] Although Van Mander claims the series was commissioned and purchased by Rudolf, this is impossible as dates scattered throughout volumes pre-date Hoefnagel's' contact with Rudolf. The series does not appear in Rudolf's' inventory, though he is likely to have owned it at one time as many copies from the volumes appear in his natural history collections, now in Vienna (see Bass 2020, 12).
[2] Vignau-Wilberg 2017, 98 without documentation.
[3]Wolfgang Wegner, Kurfurst Carl Theodor von der Pfalz als Kunstsammler, Mannheim, 1960: 13.
[4] Ellis was a book dealer who frequently sold to Huth and wrote the catalogue of Huth's' collection. He started his own business just a year before The Four Elements appeared at Weigel. Ellis is correctly identified by M. Bartels, "Ueber abnorme Behaarung beim Menschen," Zeitschrift fu¨r Ethnologie 11 (1879): 155, note 1.

Associated Names

Bibliography

1984

  • Hendrix, Lee. Joris Hoefnagel and the Four Elements: a Study in Sixteenth-Century Nature Painting. Ph.D. Hendrix, Lee. Joris Hoefnagel and the Four Elements: a Study in Sixteenth-Century Nature Painting. Ph.D. dissertation, Princeton University, 1984 (series).dissertation, Princeton University, 1984 (series).

2017

  • Vignau-Wilberg, Thea. Joris and Jacob Hoefnagel: Art and Science around 1600. Berlin, 2017: no. A6 (for series).

2019

  • Bass, Marisa Ann. Insect Artifice: Nature and Art in the Dutch Revolt. Princeton, 2019 (for series).

Inscriptions

Center right in (gold?): XXXXIV.; birds in image numbered .1., .2., .3., and .4., in red ink
Facing page: Upper center in red/violet ink: Vnde tibi frontem, libertatemq[ue] parentis, / cum facias peiora senex? Vacuumq[ue] cerebro / Iampridem caput hoc ventosa CVCVRBITA quaerit?; lower center in black ink: Tempora dispensant usus, et Tempora cultus, / Haec homines, pecudes, h[a]ec moderantur AVES.

Wikidata ID

Q64591005

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