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    Open today 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
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    6th and Constitution Ave NW 
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    Ice Rink at the Sculpture Garden

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  • Exhibitions & Events

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    • Kid-Friendly Events

    Featured exhibition:

    The Stars We Do Not See: Australian Indigenous Art

    Now on view

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    Open today 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
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    6th and Constitution Ave NW 
    Washington, DC 20565

    Ice Rink at the Sculpture Garden

    Step into a winter wonderland.

    Learn more

  • Exhibitions & Events

    • Exhibitions
    • Calendar
    • Kid-Friendly Events

    Featured exhibition:

    The Stars We Do Not See: Australian Indigenous Art

    Now on view

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    3. Comte de Joigny
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    Comte de Joigny

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    A butterfly, moths, and insects alight on or around a twig with green leaves and straw-yellow berries in this horizontal painting. The background is putty gray, and the objects and insects cast pale shadows to our right. The twig angles slightly upward from left to right in the center of the composition. Wide green leaves sprout from its top edge and three clusters of gleaming berries rest along the table closer to us. A butterfly perches on a leaf to the left on the twig, its wings spread and the antennae touching the leaf. The edges of the wings are charcoal grey with tan spots, and closer to its body, the wings are gold, dotted with black. A bug with a narrow brown body and nearly translucent wings sits near the center of the branch, and a moth perches on the broken end of the twig to our right. The moth’s wings are closed above its body. Its body is striped with yellow and black, and the white wings have black dots. Another moth, with its tan wings also closed, sits on a sprig of berries near the lower right corner of the painting. There are two more insects with spindly bodies and thin, narrow wings, one on a stem of branches near the lower left corner, and one on a green leaf near the upper right. More insects rest on the gray surface around the twig and berries. Along the bottom edge of the painting is a caterpillar with a golden yellow body with black spots, and a red face. Clustered near the top left corner, around the butterfly, are a brick-red bug with closed, sheer wings and six legs, a dark green insect also with six legs and yellow bands on its body, and an insect like a yellow jacket. At the top right is an elongated ladybug.
    Jan van Kessel the Elder, Study of Butterfly and Insects, c. 1655, oil on copper, Gift of John Dimick, 1983.19.3

    Study of Butterfly and Insects

    Study of Butterfly and Insects

    Jan van Kessel the Elder · c. 1655 · oil on copper ·  Accession ID  1983.19.3

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