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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 
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    Only have an hour to spend?

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  • Exhibitions & Events

    • Exhibitions
    • Calendar
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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.”

    Featured exhibition:

    Little Beasts: Art, Wonder, and the Natural World

    Now on view

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    • Must Sees

    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

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    • Artists
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    Artle

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    A bearded man with copper-blond hair and flushed, peachy skin stands on a stone-gray pedestal and gestures toward a group of five more men gathered before him in this square painting. Some of the men are light-skinned, others are tan. The man on the platform, Decius Mus, stands with his ruddy face turned to our right in profile, his muscular right arm raised and right foot extended. He wears a knee-length toga, and form-fitting armor covers his torso. A sword hangs from his waist, and a scarlet-red cape flaps behind him. Piled against the pedestal in the lower left are spears, battle axes, a silvery-gray shield covered with gold lightning bolts, and an ornate crested helmet. In the upper left corner, an eagle with one wing extended hovers behind Decius Mus’s head, clutching long peach and straw-colored strands in its talons. The other five men stand clustered together on the ground to our right, facing Decius Mus. They are also bearded and muscular, and each holds a golden staff topped with a different symbol. They wear knee-length tunics and cloaks in brick red, olive green, black, or tan, and three wear armor protecting their upper bodies. Calf-high, brown boots cover their feet but leave their toes exposed. The man closest to us has gray hair and stands with his back to us. A parchment-brown animal skin speckled with brown spots covers the back of his head and wraps around his armor and tunic. The man just beyond him, to our left, faces us and holds a gold staff topped with an eagle set within a round laurel wreath. The rest of the men stand in profile, filling the right side of the composition, and they lean in toward Decius Mus. Two of them wear crested helmets, one olive green, the other charcoal gray, both with gold ornamentation on the front. The man in the gray helmet holds aloft a flag painted with vertical swipes of scarlet red and ginger brown. A sketchily painted landscape beyond the group has trees with dark brown trunks and sage-green leaves along the left edge, leading back to a line of trees in the distance. Rolling, teal-blue land along the horizon could be hazy mountains. The powder-blue sky above is scattered with butter-yellow and light gray clouds. The scene is loosely painted, especially in the costumes and background.
    Sir Peter Paul Rubens, Decius Mus Addressing the Legions, probably 1616, oil on hardboard, transferred from wood and canvas, Samuel H. Kress Collection, 1957.14.2

    Decius Mus Addressing the Legions

    Decius Mus Addressing the Legions

    Sir Peter Paul Rubens · probably 1616 · oil on hardboard, transferred from wood and canvas ·  Accession ID  1957.14.2

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