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    A sprig of flowering rosemary lying against an ivory-white background and the twelve insects that surround it fills this horizontal painting. Stretching nearly the length of the composition with the cut end to our left, the rosemary has blunted, needle-like, gently curling teal-green leaves and small periwinkle-blue flowers along the ash-brown stem. Several insects perch on the sprig while others are seen as if looking from overhead, resting on the white background. The three largest insects perch along the top of the sprig, with an ivory-white butterfly with moss-green and black markings to the left, a black and golden, fuzzy bumblebee near the center, and a lemon-yellow butterfly with red antennae to our right. A tiny red insect, perhaps a ladybug without spots, sits on a leaf between the bee and yellow butterfly, and a small wasp-like insect rests on a leaf in at the lower left. Another mosquito-like insect alights on the surface nearby, next to a beetle with a honey-orange body with black, almost tiger-like stripes. A large cockroach sitting near the lower right corner has six spindly legs, a mahogany-colored abdomen, a black thorax, and tiny, black head. Spaced somewhat evenly across the top of the panel are a brick-red, winged insect to the left, a mint-green, beetle-like bug near a moth patterned with bone white and black, and a black, fly-like insect to our right. Lit from the upper left, the rosemary and insects cast shadows on the surface. The artist signed and dated the work with gray in the lower left corner: “J v. kessel . . f. Ao 1653.”

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    Open daily from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. 
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    6th and Constitution Ave NW 
    Washington, DC 20565

    Only have an hour to spend?

    We've got you covered.

  • Exhibitions & Events

    • Exhibitions
    • Calendar
    • Kid-Friendly Events
    A sprig of flowering rosemary lying against an ivory-white background and the twelve insects that surround it fills this horizontal painting. Stretching nearly the length of the composition with the cut end to our left, the rosemary has blunted, needle-like, gently curling teal-green leaves and small periwinkle-blue flowers along the ash-brown stem. Several insects perch on the sprig while others are seen as if looking from overhead, resting on the white background. The three largest insects perch along the top of the sprig, with an ivory-white butterfly with moss-green and black markings to the left, a black and golden, fuzzy bumblebee near the center, and a lemon-yellow butterfly with red antennae to our right. A tiny red insect, perhaps a ladybug without spots, sits on a leaf between the bee and yellow butterfly, and a small wasp-like insect rests on a leaf in at the lower left. Another mosquito-like insect alights on the surface nearby, next to a beetle with a honey-orange body with black, almost tiger-like stripes. A large cockroach sitting near the lower right corner has six spindly legs, a mahogany-colored abdomen, a black thorax, and tiny, black head. Spaced somewhat evenly across the top of the panel are a brick-red, winged insect to the left, a mint-green, beetle-like bug near a moth patterned with bone white and black, and a black, fly-like insect to our right. Lit from the upper left, the rosemary and insects cast shadows on the surface. The artist signed and dated the work with gray in the lower left corner: “J v. kessel . . f. Ao 1653.”

    Featured exhibition:

    Little Beasts: Art, Wonder, and the Natural World

    Now on view

  • Art & Artists

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    • Artists
    • Stories
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    Artle

    A refreshed experience for our puzzle game

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    • Visiting with Kids
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    • Tours, Guides, and Maps

    Open daily from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. 
    Admission is always free

    6th and Constitution Ave NW 
    Washington, DC 20565

    Only have an hour to spend?

    We've got you covered.

  • Exhibitions & Events

    • Exhibitions
    • Calendar
    • Kid-Friendly Events
    A sprig of flowering rosemary lying against an ivory-white background and the twelve insects that surround it fills this horizontal painting. Stretching nearly the length of the composition with the cut end to our left, the rosemary has blunted, needle-like, gently curling teal-green leaves and small periwinkle-blue flowers along the ash-brown stem. Several insects perch on the sprig while others are seen as if looking from overhead, resting on the white background. The three largest insects perch along the top of the sprig, with an ivory-white butterfly with moss-green and black markings to the left, a black and golden, fuzzy bumblebee near the center, and a lemon-yellow butterfly with red antennae to our right. A tiny red insect, perhaps a ladybug without spots, sits on a leaf between the bee and yellow butterfly, and a small wasp-like insect rests on a leaf in at the lower left. Another mosquito-like insect alights on the surface nearby, next to a beetle with a honey-orange body with black, almost tiger-like stripes. A large cockroach sitting near the lower right corner has six spindly legs, a mahogany-colored abdomen, a black thorax, and tiny, black head. Spaced somewhat evenly across the top of the panel are a brick-red, winged insect to the left, a mint-green, beetle-like bug near a moth patterned with bone white and black, and a black, fly-like insect to our right. Lit from the upper left, the rosemary and insects cast shadows on the surface. The artist signed and dated the work with gray in the lower left corner: “J v. kessel . . f. Ao 1653.”

    Featured exhibition:

    Little Beasts: Art, Wonder, and the Natural World

    Now on view

  • Art & Artists

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    • Artists
    • Stories
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    Artle

    A refreshed experience for our puzzle game

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    Two men hold the mouth of a horse open to work on its teeth as a third, short boy or man looks on in front of a building to our left, where a blacksmith works in this vertical painting. All the people have peach-colored skin. A dark horse with a white stripe down its nose stands in a small, shed-like enclosure covered with a peaked roof, which is attached to the brick blacksmith’s shop. A balding man with a white beard and fringe of white hair, and wearing glasses, a tattered crimson-red shirt, and dark pants, holds a long, rod-like instrument in the horse’s gaping mouth. A hat lies on the ground near his feet. The man next to him is cleanshaven and wears a tall hat, a dark jacket with red sleeves, and dark pants and boots. He stands facing the horse with his mouth and eyes wide open. The horse’s nose is caught in long-handled, vice-like tongs, presumably to make the horse show its teeth. A noticeably shorter man or boy stands behind the pair, to our right, and looks on. He wears a tall, floppy hat, and his dark clothes are worn. His face is deep in shadow under the hat but he might have a mustache and beard. A white horse stands with its rump angled toward us behind the trio. Almost lost in shadow, a wide-shouldered man works on a hot piece of metal, glowing orange, next to a fire just inside the doorway to the building. Charcoal-gray smoke pours from a chimney on the roof. One dog lies down in front of the door and another frolics nearby. A chicken and a rooster peck at the dirt ground to our right. The horizon of the tree-lined landscape comes about a quarter of the way up the composition, and cream-colored, puffy clouds float across a blue sky above. Two people stands near a cow in the deep distance, near the trees.
    Paulus Potter, A Farrier's Shop, 1648, oil on panel, Widener Collection, 1942.9.52

    A Farrier's Shop

    A Farrier's Shop

    Paulus Potter · 1648 · oil on panel ·  Accession ID  1942.9.52

    Artwork

    Shown from the knees up, a pale-skinned woman with gray hair and wearing a scarlet-red, velvet dress looks at us in this vertical portrait painting. The woman’s shoulders and face are angled slightly to our left so she gazes out of the corners of her dark blue eyes under sloping brows. Her pink lips are closed, and jowls soften her chin line. She wears a black cap over her gray hair, and gold, jeweled earrings hang from her ears. A double strand of pearls is around her neck. The bodice of her dress is cut straight across the shoulders, and white cloth covering her decolletage is tucked into the neckline. A muted gold cloth wraps around the woman’s left shoulder, to our right, across her back, and down over her other elbow. The red dress’s sleeves split over the puffy white sleeves of her undergarment. The woman rests her right elbow, to our left, on a ledge, and her other hand hangs by her side with those fingers nestled into the fabric of her skirt. An iridescent, gold-colored cloth drapes over the ledge to our left and behind the woman. A stone column is along the left edge of the painting and a sunset sky over a grassy, tree-filled landscape is visible to the right. The artist signed and dated the lower right corner, “NMaes 1676.”
    Nicolaes Maes, Portrait of a Lady, 1676, oil on canvas, Gift of Joseph F. McCrindle, 2001.138.1

    Portrait of a Lady

    Portrait of a Lady

    Nicolaes Maes · 1676 · oil on canvas ·  Accession ID  2001.138.1

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