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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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    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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    6th and Constitution Ave NW 
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    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
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    We look up at two women, two young boys, and a man, all with pale skin, sitting together on a wide landing, with stairs leading up to stone buildings behind the group and a patch of vivid blue sky in the upper right corner of this horizontal painting. At the center, a woman, Mary, sits holding a nearly nude child propped on one knee. Her body is angled to our right but she turns her head to look off into the distance to our left with large, dark eyes under faint brows. Her strawberry-blond hair is pulled back under a white veil that falls down the back of her neck and across her chest. Her smooth cheeks are lightly flushed in her round face. She has a straight nose and her pink, bow lips are closed. She wears a coral-red dress under a long, azure-blue robe that wraps around her waist and covers her legs. The sandaled toes of one foot peek from under the hems, and her other foot rests up on a gold-colored, rounded urn. Mary holds one child on her lap, and the second child sits by her right side, to our left. Both toddlers have blond, curly hair, dark eyes, rounded faces, and slightly pudgy bodies. Swaths of pale gray drapery mostly cover the genitals of both. The child on her lap half-sits, half-stands on the knee propped up on the urn. She supports his belly with one hand, the other wraps around his bottom. He leans forward, toward the second child, who faces him and holds up a yellow and blush-red fruit. Behind him, to our left, an older woman sits leaning forward and facing Mary in profile. Her wrinkled face is mostly lost in shadow, and she has a hooked nose and her forehead is lined, as if her eyebrows are raised. A white veil is wrapped around her head and drapes over the shoulders of her long, canary-yellow dress. One foot is crossed behind the other ankle, and the toes of both peep out from under her dress. To our right of Mary, a bearded man, Joseph, wears an eggplant-purple robe and sits almost entirely in shadow, facing our right in profile. The leg closer to us is extended and his foot stretches out of the shadow. He has short, curly brown hair and a long gray beard. He holds a carpenter’s compass to a panel in front of him. Closest to us, a step down runs along the bottom edge of the painting. On that step, a basket with leaves and yellow and peach-colored fruit sits in front of the standing child. Near Mary’s feet is a bronze-colored urn and a shiny gold box on raised feet. Behind the older woman to our left, water trickles from a round-bellied fountain on a pedestal in front of an orange tree. One building with round columns rises behind the tree. Behind Joseph, a long stick rests against the post of a short flight of four steps, which leads to another landing. The portico of a second temple-like building with squared columns and leafy capitals rises over Mary, presumably from the upper landing. A bright, topaz-blue sky with cream-white and steel-gray clouds fills the upper right corner of the composition.
    Anonymous Artist, The Holy Family on the Steps, 1648, oil on canvas, Samuel H. Kress Collection, 1952.5.49

    The Holy Family on the Steps

    The Holy Family on the Steps

    Anonymous Artist · 1648 · oil on canvas ·  Accession ID  1952.5.49

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