The Black Muray (Muraenae helenae varietas)

published 1754

Mark Catesby

Associated Names
Mark Catesby

Artist, English, 1679 - 1749

The image shows a large dark blue eel among tall, slender, branching coral structures. The eel is dark blue and black, while the coral is golden brown against a light background. The eel's head is on the left, with its body winding through the coral branches that rise vertically in the image.

Media Options

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Artwork overview

  • Medium

    etching and engraving with hand coloring on laid paper

  • Credit Line

    Collection of Dr. and Mrs. George Benjamin Green

  • Dimensions

    plate: 35.2 x 25.4 cm (13 7/8 x 10 in.)
    sheet: 45.1 x 31.3 cm (17 3/4 x 12 5/16 in.)

  • Accession Number

    1991.163.74

  • Catalogue Raisonné

    Natural History, Vol. vol.2, no. 21

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

Dr. and Mrs. George Benjamin Green, Virginia; gift to NGA, 1991.

Associated Names

Bibliography

1771

  • Catesby, Mark. The Natural History of Carolina, Florida, and the Bahama Islands. London: 1771.

Inscriptions

lower right in plate: MC; lower left in plate: Muroena maculata nigra; lower right in plate: Lithophyton &c; upper left in plate: T21; by later hand, across bottom in graphite: M. Catesby - London - 1754 Black Moray 15-

Watermarks

IHS IVILLEDARY

Wikidata ID

Q74895004

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