Plate 20: A Plover with Four Other Birds

c.1575/1590s

Joris Hoefnagel

Associated Names
Joris Hoefnagel

Artist, Flemish, 1542 - 1600

This is a painting of various birds in a natural setting. The work depicts a collection of birds within a circular vignette. There are five birds in total, including two larger terrestrial birds at the bottom with elongated necks and legs, and three smaller birds perched on a twisted branch that intertwines around them. The background shows dry foliage and a small body of water. The style hints at a classical natural history illustration, typical of works that combine scientific observation with artistic representation. The Latin text "PRVDENTIS IMITARE CHARADRIUM" is inscribed at the top of the image.

Media Options

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Artwork overview

  • Medium

    watercolor and gold paint on parchment

  • Credit Line

    Gift of Mrs. Lessing J. Rosenwald

  • Dimensions

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

  • Accession Number

    1987.20.8.21

  • Series Title

    Animalia Volatilia et Amphibia (Aier)

Associated Artworks

See all 72 artworks

Animalia Volatilia et Amphibia (Aier)

Joris Hoefnagel

1575

This is a painting of decorative text. The artwork features ornate calligraphy surrounded by elaborate embellishments. The central text reads "ANIMALIA VOLATILIA ET AMPHIBIA," encased within a rectangular frame. Decorative elements include colorful flourishes, ribbons, and floral patterns. At the top, a blue and gold emblem with the word "AIER" is featured. Below, there is a smaller inscription, and at the bottom, additional Latin text is included. This is in the style of an illuminated manuscript or an ornately bordered page from a classical book.

Title Page

Joris Hoefnagel

1570

This is a painting of an ostrich and another bird with an inscription. The painting depicts a large ostrich in the center, with intricate feather detailing and slender legs. Another bird, possibly a starling, stands atop a mound. The terrain features soft hills and sandy ground. An inscription in Latin frames the image. This is in the style of early scientific illustration.

Plate 1: Two Ostriches and a Starling

Joris Hoefnagel

1570

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

Emperor Rudolf II of Austria?[1]; Secretarius Heinrich Hagen, Vienna, 1611.[2] Count Emanuel Maria Joseph von Arco, Munich, 1751.[3] Graf von Seinsheim, canon of Salzburg and Speyer, 1753. Master stonemason Rüpfel, Munich, c. 1830. Joseph Anton Niggl [1792 - 1842], Markt Tölz. Karl August von Brentano [1817 - 1896], Augsburg. (sale, Rudolph Weigel, 28 October 1861, no. 2220-a-d]; (Frederick Startridge Ellis [active 1860 - 1885], London; formerly identified as F. S. Eliot)[3]; Henry Huth [1815 - 1878], London; by descent to his son, Alfred Henry Huth [1850 - 1910], London; (sale, Sotheby's' London, 12 June 1913, no. 3722); (William Wesley & Son, London); Charles Francis George Richard Schwerdt, Old Alresford House, Hampshire (his sale, Sotheby's' London, 15 July 1946, no. 2216); (The Rosenbach Company, Philadelphia); Lessing J. Rosenwald, Jenkintown; given to Edith Goodkind Rosenwald, Jenkintown; gift to NGA, 1987.
[1] Although Van Mander claims the series was commissioned and purchased by Rudolf, this is impossible as dates scattered throughout volumes pre-date Hoefnagel's' contact with Rudolf. The series does not appear in Rudolf's' inventory, though he is likely to have owned it at one time as many copies from the volumes appear in his natural history collections, now in Vienna (see Bass 2020, 12).
[2] Vignau-Wilberg 2017, 98 without documentation.
[3]Wolfgang Wegner, Kurfurst Carl Theodor von der Pfalz als Kunstsammler, Mannheim, 1960: 13.
[4] Ellis was a book dealer who frequently sold to Huth and wrote the catalogue of Huth's' collection. He started his own business just a year before The Four Elements appeared at Weigel. Ellis is correctly identified by M. Bartels, "Ueber abnorme Behaarung beim Menschen," Zeitschrift fu¨r Ethnologie 11 (1879): 155, note 1.

Associated Names

Bibliography

1984

  • Hendrix, Lee. Joris Hoefnagel and the Four Elements: a Study in Sixteenth-Century Nature Painting. Ph.D. Hendrix, Lee. Joris Hoefnagel and the Four Elements: a Study in Sixteenth-Century Nature Painting. Ph.D. dissertation, Princeton University, 1984 (series).dissertation, Princeton University, 1984 (series).

2017

  • Vignau-Wilberg, Thea. Joris and Jacob Hoefnagel: Art and Science around 1600. Berlin, 2017: no. A6 (for series).

2019

  • Bass, Marisa Ann. Insect Artifice: Nature and Art in the Dutch Revolt. Princeton, 2019 (for series).

Inscriptions

Upper center in red/violet ink: .2. / PRVDENTIS IMITARE CHARADRIVM. (“It is prudent to imitate the charadrius.” Erasmus, Adages, 4.7.88, and Gesner, Historia animalium, 3:246) (trans. Bass 2019, 201) / center right in (gold?): XX. / birds in image numbered .1., .2., .3., .4., and .5., in red ink
Facing page: Upper center in blue/black ink: Super montes volucres Coeli habitabunt: de / medio petrarum dabunt voces ps:103. (“Over them the birds of the air shall dwell: from the midst of the rocks they shall give forth their voices.” Psalms 103:12) (Latin Vulgate Bible); lower center in red/violet ink: Laudate Dominum de COELIS: laudate / eum In excelsis.ps:148. (“Praise the Lord from the heavens; praise him in the high places.” Psalms 148:1) (Latin Vulgate Bible)

Wikidata ID

Q64590979

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