Plate 55: A Tawny Owl, an Eagle Owl, and Two other Owls

c.1575/1590s

Joris Hoefnagel

Associated Names
Joris Hoefnagel

Artist, Flemish, 1542 - 1600

This painting shows four owls on branches with Latin text above and below the central image. The owls are depicted in detailed precision, two facing forward on a branch, one on the left branch, and one displaying its feathers in the foreground. The owls showcase intricate feather patterns in shades of brown and gray. The scene is set within an oval border and includes branches in the background.

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

    1987.20.8.56

  • 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

Exhibition History

2025

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

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: MVLTAE NOCTVAE SVB TEGVLIS LATITANT. (“Many night owls lie hidden under the rooftops.” Gesner, Historia animalium 3:600, 602) (trans. Bass 2019, 198); center right in (gold?): LV.; images of owls in image numbered .1., .2., and .3.; on branch under owl numbered .2. in image, in (gold?): IN NOCTE CO[N]SILIUM (“Counsel in the nighttime.” Erasmus, Adages, 2.2.43) (trans. Bass 2019, 199); lower center in black ink: NOCTVA VOLAT. (“The night owl flies.” Erasmus, Adages, 1.1.76) (trans. Bass 2019, 198)
Facing page: Upper center in black/blue ink: Noctua ut in tumulis, super utq[ue] cadavera bubo. / Talis apud Sophoclem, nostra puella sedet.(“As the night owl perches on tombs and the eagle owl on corpses, so my girl sits with Sophocles.” Alciato, Emblemata, 127 and Gesner, Historia animalium 3:233) (trans. Bass 2019, 198); lower center in black ink: Ignavus bubo, dirum mortalibus omen. (“Eagle owl, a fearful omen to mankind.” Ovid, Metamorphoses 5.551 (trans. Bass 2019, 198)

Wikidata ID

Q64591017

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