Plate 47: A Dragonfly (Banded Darter?), Grasshopper, Houseflies, a Carrion Beetle, a Flower Longhorn Beetle, and Other Insects, c. 1575/1580

Not on View

series Title

Animalia Rationalia et Insecta (Ignis): Plate XLVII

Medium

watercolor and gouache, with oval border in gold, on vellum

Dimensions

page size (approximate): 14.3 x 18.4 cm (5 5/8 x 7 1/4 in.)

Credit Line

Gift of Mrs. Lessing J. Rosenwald

Accession Number

1987.20.5.48

Artists / Makers

Joris Hoefnagel (artist) Flemish, 1542 - 1600

Image Use

This image is in the public domain.
Read our full Open Access policy for images .

Inscription

Upper center in red ink: VEL MVSCAS PRAETERVOLANTES.; insects in image numbered .1., .2., .3., and .4., in red ink; center right in brown ink: XXXXVII.
Facing page:
Upper center in red ink: Muscae morientes perdunt suavitatem unguenti: praetiosior / est sapientia, et gloria, parua ad tempus stultitia Ecc.10 (“Dying flies spoil the sweetness of the ointment. Wisdom and glory are more precious than a small and shortlived folly.” Ecclesiastes 10:1) (Latin Vulgate Bible)

Provenance

Emperor Rudolph of Austria; Lessing J. Rosenwald, Alverthorpe, PA; gift to NGA, 1987.

Associated Names

A.S.W. Rosenbach Gallery
Brentano, Karl August von
Ellis, Frederick Startridge
Hagen, Heinrich Secretarius
Rosenwald, Lessing J., Mrs.
William Wesley & Son

Exhibition History

1998: A Collector's Cabinet, National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1998, no. 76.

1999: From Botany to Bouquets: Flowers in Northern Art, National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1999, no. 45, as Iris from Animalia Rationalia et Insecta (Ignis).

2002: Deceptions and Illusions: Five Centuries of Trompe l'Oeil Painting, National Gallery of Art, Washington, 2002-2003, no. 30, as Ignis (Animalia Rationalia et Insecta) Plate 47.