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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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    Only have an hour to spend?

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  • Exhibitions & Events

    • Exhibitions
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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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    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
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    A refreshed experience for our puzzle game

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    Henry Villard

    American, 1835 - 1900

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    Two large wooden warships firing on each other on a choppy sea almost fill the width of this long horizontal painting. The water closest to us is ocean blue and becomes tan with crests of parchment white in the distance. The tall sides of the warships are pierced with rows of black cannons poking through portholes. Each ship has three tall masts with flax-colored sails billowing in the wind. Tiny men dressed in gold, red, and blue line the decks firing rifles, climbing rigging, or watching the action. The ship to our left is angled toward us, the long arm of the bowsprit on its bow extending to our left. A pink flag bearing a gold and blue crest flies from its tallest mast. A green flag flies from its rear mast and a smaller gold one from the prow. Bright flashes of yellow and rose-pink erupt from two of its cannons, and the stern is wrapped in tawny-brown and light blue smoke. Close to that warship, we look onto the long side of the second warship, to our right. A flag with bands of red, white, and blue flies from its tallest mast and a smaller one with orange and gold stripes flutters from its rear mast. A third red flag flies from the stern. Armored men stand in its prow, firing rifles at a sinking ship directly in front of us. This smaller ship is almost completely submerged with just part of its sail and keel above the choppy surface of the water. Tiny people jump in the water or remain in place while shrapnel from its blasted wooden mast flies out in every direction. One man kneels on the sinking deck with his hands together, facing the attacking crew. In the distance to the left of the left-hand warship, two smaller ships also seem locked in battle. The larger of that distant pair chases the smaller, whose masts collapse with smoke rising from its deck. A sixth ship, tiny in scale, sails near the horizon near the right edge of the composition. Camel-brown clouds floating against a parchment-colored sky in the top two-thirds of the painting. The artist signed the painting as if his name were written on the flag with the red, white, and blue bands: “CORNELIS VB,” with the V and B joined to create a monogram.
    Cornelis Verbeeck, A Naval Encounter between Dutch and Spanish Warships, c. 1618/1620, oil on panel, Gift of Dorothea V. Hammond, 1995.21.1-2

    A Naval Encounter between Dutch and Spanish Warships

    A Naval Encounter between Dutch and Spanish Warships

    Cornelis Verbeeck · c. 1618/1620 · oil on panel ·  Accession ID  1995.21.1-2

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