Plate 24: Two Swans, a Kingfisher, and a Bullfinch

c.1575/1590s

Joris Hoefnagel

Associated Names
Joris Hoefnagel

Artist, Flemish, 1542 - 1600

This is a painting featuring two swans near a water body. One swan is swimming in the water, while the other is standing at the edge of the water. A colorful bird is perched on a rock, and another bird is on a branch of a nearby tree. The tree has green leaves and hanging vine-like growths with red berries. There is tranquil water in the background, and Latin text is at the top of the image, with a visible Roman numeral 'XXIV'. The style is reminiscent of illuminated manuscript illustrations.

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

    1987.20.8.25

  • 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 ink: TVNC CANENT CYGNI CVM TACEBVNT GRACVLI: center right in (gold?): XXIV.; birds in image numbered .1., .2., .3., and .4., in red ink
Facing page: Upper center in black ink: .3. / Quum me ficus alat, quum pascor dulcibus unis: / cur potius nomen, non dedit una mihi?; lower center in black ink: In tenui spes nulla lucri est, unoq[ue] residunt / Arbusto germinae, non bene ficedulae

Wikidata ID

Q64590983

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