Plate 60: Four Small Snakes, c. 1575/1580

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series Title

Animalia Qvadrvpedia et Reptilia (Terra)

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

1987.20.6.61

Artists / Makers

Joris Hoefnagel (artist) Flemish, 1542 - 1600

Image Use

This image is in the public domain.
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Inscription

upper center in red ink: SVPER ASPIDEM ET BASILISCVM AMBVLABIS / et conculcabis leonem et Draconem.ps.90 (“You shall tread upon the lion and the adder: the young lion and the dragon shall you trample under feet.” Psalms 90:13) (Latin Vulgate Bible); center right in brown ink: LX.; animals in image numbered .1., .2., .3., and .4., in red ink; lower center in blue ink: Et semper recto lapsurus limite CENCHRIS / Pluribus ille notis variatam tingitur aluum.
Facing page: upper center in brown ink: Sibilaq[ue] effundens cunctas terrentia pestes, / Ante venena nocens, late sibi submovet omne / vulgus, et in vacua regnat Basiliscus arena.; lower center in brown ink: Ne Intuearis vinum quando flavescit, cum splenduerit / In vitro color eius: Ingredit[ur] blande, sed in novissimo / mordebit ut Coluber, et sicut REGVLVS venena diffundet. / proverb.23. (“Look not upon the wine when it is yellow, when the color thereof shines in the glass, it goes in pleasantly. But in the end it will bite like a snake and will spread abroad poison like a basilisk.” Proverbs 23:31-32) (Latin Vulgate Bible)