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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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    6th and Constitution Ave NW 
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    Only have an hour to spend?

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  • Exhibitions & Events

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    • 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

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    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

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    3. Henry Herbert, 10th Earl of Pembroke
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    Henry Herbert, 10th Earl of Pembroke

    British, 1734 - 1794

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    Standing at the entrance of an open tent, a woman holds the severed head of a bearded man over a sack held open by another person in this vertical painting. All the people have pale, ivory-white skin. To our right, Judith, who holds the head, stands with her body angled to our left. She looks back over her shoulder, off to our right, with light brown eyes. She has a long nose, smooth cheeks, and her small, peach-tinged lips are closed. Tightly curled, amber-brown ringlets frame her oval face and fall to her shoulders. Her loose, pearl-white dress, which is almost the color of her skin, falls off one shoulder and is belted just below her bust. A long, ultramarine-blue cloth drapes over one shoulder and arm, and around her body. Open-toed, moss-green sandals peek out from beneath her hem. Her right hand, to our left, grasps a long, straight, iron blade by her hip. The blade has a ridge up along its center, and the tip is cut straight across. She holds up the severed head in her other hand, so that arm crosses her body. The severed head faces away from us so only a sliver of the nose, cheek, and one closed eye are visible. The head has chestnut-brown hair and beard, and the mouth is open wide. To our left, the attendant holding the sack looks down at the head, her face framed by a white cloth that wraps around her head, under her chin, and across her shoulders. She wears a canary-yellow tunic over silvery-gray pants. A red cape drapes over one shoulder and around her body. She is barefoot. The tent is supported by a wooden pole, just beyond and between the pair. The gold-edged, rose-pink flaps of the tent have been pulled back and tied to each side. The interior beyond them is dark but the end of a gold bed draped with white cloth and one bare foot, the sole coming toward us, emerges from the shadows, to our right of Judith. The ground beneath the tent is made of tan, roughly square stones, scattered with pebbles. The peak of the tent rises off the top center of the composition, and the area to each side is midnight blue.
    Andrea Mantegna, Giulio Campagnola, Judith with the Head of Holofernes, c. 1495/1500, tempera on poplar panel, Widener Collection, 1942.9.42

    Judith with the Head of Holofernes

    Judith with the Head of Holofernes

    Andrea Mantegna, Giulio Campagnola · c. 1495/1500 · tempera on poplar panel ·  Accession ID  1942.9.42

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