A Groundhog or Marmot with a Branch of Plums

1605

Jacopo Ligozzi

Associated Names
Jacopo Ligozzi

Artist, Italian, 1547 - 1627

This is a painting of a marmot-like animal with purple and red plums on a gray stone surface. The animal is seen from the side, facing the left, with one foot on a small rock. It has brown and gray fur with round, dark eyes and long, white teeth. In the bottom right corner, there is a cluster of plums on a branch with dried brown leaves. The background is plain beige paper, and there is a gold outline around the painting.

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Artwork overview

More About this Artwork

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Artwork history & notes

Provenance

(sale, Sotheby's London, 13 December 1973, no. 23); Herbert List [1903-1975] (Lugt 4063), Munich; Ursula and Adolf Ratjen, Vaduz, for Wolfgang Ratjen; Wolfgang Ratjen [1943-1997], Vaduz and Munich; purchased 2007 by NGA.

Associated Names

Exhibition History

1977

  • Stiftung Ratjen. Italienische Zeichnungen des 16. - 18. Jahrhunderts. Graphische Sammlung, Munich; Staatliche Museen Preussischer Kulturbesitz, Berlin; Kunsthalle, Hamburg; Kunstmuseum, Dusseldorf; Staatsgalerie, Stuttgart. Munich, 1977, no. 45 (Richard Harprath).

1979

  • Zeichnungen Italienischer Meister aus den Sammlungen Schloss Fachsenfeld, Stiftung Ratjen Vaduz, Staatsgalerie Stuttgart, Staatliche Graphische Sammlung München. Kunstmuseum Lucerne, 1979, no. 116.

1995

  • Fünfzig italienische Zeichnungen des 16. - 18. Jahrhunderts aus der Stiftung Ratjen, Vaduz. Liechtensteinischen Staatlichen Kunstsammlung, Vaduz. Bern, 1995, no. 19.

1996

  • Italian Drawings from the Ratjen Foundation, Vaduz. The Frick Collection, New York. Bern, 1996, no. 19.

2010

  • Arcimboldo, 1526-1593: Nature and Fantasy, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.; Palazzo Reale, Milan, 2010-2011, brochure no. 24, fig. 9 (shown only in Washington).

2011

  • Italian Master Drawings from the Wolfgang Ratjen Collection, 1525-1835, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 2011, no. 22.

2014

  • The Poetry of Light - La poesia della luce: Venetian Drawings from the National Gallery of Art, Museo Correr, Venice, Venice, 2014 - 2015, no. 39.

2025

  • Little Beasts: Art Wonder and the Natural World, National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC, 2025.

Bibliography

1977

  • Stiftung Ratjen. Italienische Zeichnungen des 16. - 18. Jahrhunderts. Munich, 1977: 102-103.

1995

  • Lachenmann, David. Fünfzig italienische Zeichnungen des 16. - 18. Jahrhunderts aus der Stiftung Ratjen, Vaduz. Vaduz, 1995: no. 19.

1996

  • Lachenmann, David. Italian Drawings from the Ratjen Foundation, Vaduz. Exh. cat. The Frick Collection, New York. Bern, 1996: no. 19.

2001

  • Lachenmann, David. "Wolfgang Ratjen as Collector." Master Drawings 39 (2001): 108 and fig. 2.

2010

  • Grasselli, Margaret Morgan. "Italian Master Drawings from the Wolfgang Ratjen Collection, 1530-1800." National Gallery of Art Bulletin 43 (Fall 2010): 39 (color).

2011

  • Italian Drawings from the Wolfgang Ratjen Collection 1525-1835. Exh. cat. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 2011: 58-59.

2014

  • Jacopo Ligozzi: "pittore universalissimo". Exh. cat. Sillabe, Livorno, 2014: 33, 35, 37.

2020

  • Evans, Mark, and Elania Pieragostini. Renaissance Watercolours: from Dürer to Van Dyck. London: V&A Publishing, 2020, cat no. 93 (exhibition canceled; drawing did not travel).

Inscriptions

signed and dated on stone ledge to the left of the marmot's tail, dark brown ink, JACOPO LIGOZZI FACIEBAT.1605.; verso, upper left, black ink, 416; verso upper center, graphite, signed iacopo Ligozzi faciebat 1605; verso upper right, graphite, S23/3600

Wikidata ID

Q64580059

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