Two Butterflies, a Wasp, and a Moth

1646

Wenceslaus Hollar

Associated Names
Wenceslaus Hollar

Artist, Bohemian, 1607 - 1677

The image features four insects. The largest is a butterfly with broad striped wings, positioned centrally. Below it, there are three smaller insects - another butterfly on the left with a spotted pattern, a wasp-like insect in the middle, and a third butterfly on the right with a mix of spotted and striped patterns on its wings. The color palette is monochrome, consisting of various shades of black and white. The insects are symmetrically arranged, with the largest butterfly at the top center and the smaller creatures lined up at the bottom horizontally.

Media Options

This object’s media is free and in the public domain. Read our full Open Access policy for images.
Not on view See artworks now on view

Artwork overview

  • Medium

    etching on laid paper

  • Credit Line

    Rosenwald Collection

  • Dimensions

    plate: 8.1 × 12.1 cm (3 3/16 × 4 3/4 in.)
    sheet: 8.3 × 12.2 cm (3 1/4 × 4 13/16 in.)

  • Accession Number

    1943.3.4945

  • Catalogue Raisonné

    New Hollstein, no. 919, State i/iii

  • Series Title

    Muscarum Scarabeorum, Vermiumque Varie Figure & Formae

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

Count Giuseppe Archinto [1783-1861], Milan (Lugt 52); Arkady Alferoff [1811-1872], Bonn (Lugt 1727); Rudolf Philip Goldschmidt [c.1840-1914], Berlin (Lugt 2926); (C.G. Boerner, Leipzig, May 7-9, 1928, lot 637); purchased by Lessing J. Rosenwald [1891-1979], 1928; gift to NGA, 1943.

Associated Names

Exhibition History

2025

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

Bibliography

1982

  • Pennington, Richard. A Descriptive Catalogue of the Etched Work of Wenceslaus Hollar 1607-1677. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1982, no. 2170, state i/iii.

1996

  • The New Hollstein German Engravings, Etchings and Woodcuts, 1400-1700. (Wenceslaus Hollar, Simon Turner, author). Rotterdam: Sound & Vision Interactive, 1996-, no. 919, state i/iii.

Inscriptions

in plate, at lower left: WHollar fecit ex Collectione Arundeliana; verso, lower left, in graphite, by a later hand: 2170; verso, lower right, in graphite, by a later hand: 637

Wikidata ID

Q65026349

You may be interested in

Loading Results