Who painted Plate 48: Guinea Pig and Hedgehogs with Melon and Cobnuts?

Plate 48: Guinea Pig and Hedgehogs with Melon and Cobnuts was painted by Joris Hoefnagel in 1594.

Where can I see Plate 48: Guinea Pig and Hedgehogs with Melon and Cobnuts?

Plate 48: Guinea Pig and Hedgehogs with Melon and Cobnuts is held by National Gallery of Art.

What movement is Plate 48: Guinea Pig and Hedgehogs with Melon and Cobnuts?

Plate 48: Guinea Pig and Hedgehogs with Melon and Cobnuts is associated with Renaissance.

Can I buy a print of Plate 48: Guinea Pig and Hedgehogs with Melon and Cobnuts?

Museum-quality prints of Plate 48: Guinea Pig and Hedgehogs with Melon and Cobnuts are available made-to-order from Artifact World Gallery.

Artwork

Plate 48: Guinea Pig and Hedgehogs with Melon and Cobnuts

Joris Hoefnagel , 1594

Plate 48: Guinea Pig and Hedgehogs with Melon and Cobnuts is a gouache drawing by the Renaissance artist Joris Hoefnagel. It dates from 1594 and is held in the collection of the National Gallery of Art.

Inscription: Inscribed:upper center in black ink: Multa sagax vulpes, unum tamen hirtus Echinus / Novit, qua mundi parte flet aura vaga. (“The wise fox has discerned many things, the rough hedgehog just one: on which side of the world the vagrant wind blows.”) (trans. Bass 2019, 207); upper center in (gold?): EX SCABRO IN LEVE[M] NV[M]QVA[M] VERTETVR ECHINUS. (“The rough hedgehog will never be made smooth.” Erasmus, _Adages_, 2.9.59) (trans. Bass 2019, 207); right center in black ink: XXXXVIII.; on plaque tied to tree branch on right in red ink: VIS NVLLA SED ERROR (“No strength is anything but an error.”) (trans. Bass 2019, 207); on branch under hedgehog in (gold?): MEA ME VIRTUTE INVOLVO (“I wrap myself in my virtue.” Horace, _Odes/Carmina_, 3.29.54-55) (trans. Bass 2019, 265); animals in image numbered .1. and .2., in red ink; lower center in red ink: ARS VARIA VVLPI, AST VNA ECHINO MAXIMA. (“The fox knows many things, but the hedgehog one big thing.” Erasmus, _Adages_, 1.5.18) (trans. Bass 2019, 207) Facing page: upper center in green/blue ink: Insidias cum forte strui presentit Echinus / Mox sua se spinis clausus in arma globat: / Involuit virtute sua se quisq[ue], tueri / Qui contra sortis se mala mille studet. A: Steckelius: Can[ebat]. (Stockelius?) (“When the hedgehog perceives snares devised by the mighty, / He soon curls himself up, closed within the defenses of his spines. / Whoever wraps himself in his own virtue / Applies himself to guarding against a thousand evils of fortune.”) (trans. Bass 2019, 208); middle center in black ink: Corporibus rigidis mira est prudentia parvis, / Vndiq[ue] diripiunt fructus hyemique reponunt. / Pomorum super hi cumulos se saepe volutant, / Inde domum redeunt onerati tergora pomis.; lower center in brown ink: Spargite humum foliis, inducite fontibus umbras / Pastores: mandat fieri sibi talia, Christus.

About this work

Overview

Created around 1594, this small rectangular composition by the Flemish artist Joris Hoefnagel depicts a domestic guinea pig alongside two hedgehogs, set before a sliced melon and a sprig bearing cobnuts. Rendered in watercolor with touches of gold on parchment, the image combines natural observation with ornamental framing, characteristic of late‑sixteenth‑century manuscript illumination.

Subject & Meaning

The work presents a quiet tableau of modest fauna and fruit, emphasizing the textures of fur, shell and rind. By juxtaposing the curious guinea pig with the spiny hedgehogs, Hoefnagel draws attention to the diversity of small creatures, while the melon and nuts suggest abundance and seasonal bounty, a common motif in still‑life symbolism of the period.

Technique & Style

Gold paint outlines the decorative border and highlights selected details, lending a luminous quality to the parchment surface.

Hoefnagel employed fine watercolor washes to model the animals’ bodies, achieving a delicate gradation of tone. Gold paint outlines the decorative border and highlights selected details, lending a luminous quality to the parchment surface. The rendering balances scientific exactness, visible in the precise anatomy of the hedgehogs, with the ornamental flourish typical of northern European illuminated manuscripts.

History & Provenance

The piece belongs to Hoefnagel’s broader corpus of natural‑history studies, produced during his mature phase when he contributed to both printed works and private manuscripts. Though its original commission remains unidentified, the drawing survived as part of a collection of similar plates that circulated among collectors interested in exotic fauna, reflecting the artist’s reputation as one of the last practitioners of the illuminated manuscript tradition.