1594
gouache
vellum
From the collection of National Gallery of Art
Dominant colour
Plate 10: Brown Hairstreak, Silver-Washed Fritillary, and Clouded Yellow Butterflies on a Four-o'-Clock Flower is a 1594 gouache by Joris Hoefnagel, a Renaissance work, held at National Gallery of Art.
This painting shows three butterflies on a single flower stem. The butterflies have bright orange and brown wings with black spots. One is resting on a pink flower with yellow edges. The background is plain, and the whole scene is inside a round gold border. The artist used a special method called *lepidochromy*—tiny real butterfly wings mixed into the paint for shimmer. This was a rare trick back then. Next, look up the technique: watercolor, glazing to see how layers of paint create depth.
Joris Hoefnagel or Georg Hoefnagel (1542 – 24 July 1601) was a Flemish painter, printmaker, miniaturist, draftsman and merchant.
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