1594
gouache
parchment
From the collection of National Gallery of Art
Dominant colour
Plate 63: A Dragonfly, a Spotted Longhorn, a Sexton Beetle, and Other Insects with a Blue and White Columbine is a 1594 gouache by Joris Hoefnagel, a Renaissance work, held at National Gallery of Art.
This tiny painting shows a dragonfly, beetles, and a blue and white columbine flower. The dragonfly’s wings are real ones pasted on, not painted. The artist used watercolor and gold paint to make every detail pop. Hoefnagel copied nature exactly. He even glued on actual insect wings. This was a new trick in the 1500s. Look for more bugs on the National Gallery of Art, Washington website.
Joris Hoefnagel or Georg Hoefnagel (1542 – 24 July 1601) was a Flemish painter, printmaker, miniaturist, draftsman and merchant.
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