Artwork
Plate 7: Swallowtail Butterfly
Plate 7: Swallowtail Butterfly 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:Insect in image numbered .1., in red ink; center right in brown ink: VII. Facing page: Upper center in red ink: Posuit oculum suum deus super corda hominum ostendere / Illis magnalia operum suorum: ut nome[n] sanctifictionis / collaude[n]t: et gloriari in mirabilibus eius.Ecc[us].17. (“He set his eye upon their hearts to show them the greatness of his works. That they might praise the name which he sanctified and glory in his wondrous acts.” Ecclesiasticus 17:7-8) (Latin Vulgate Bible)
About this work
Overview
Plate 7: Swallowtail Butterfly is a delicate watercolor and gold paint work on parchment created by Joris Hoefnagel around 1594.
Technique & Style
Hoefnagel's use of watercolor and gold paint showcases his skill as a miniaturist and manuscript illuminator, techniques characteristic of his work in natural history illustrations.
Subject & Meaning
The detailed depiction of a swallowtail butterfly reflects Hoefnagel's focus on naturalistic observation, a hallmark of his illustrations of flora and fauna.
Context
This work is part of a broader trend in late 16th-century northern Europe, where artists like Hoefnagel contributed to the development of floral still-life painting through their detailed and realistic representations.
Own this work as a print
Artist & collection
Artist
Joris Hoefnagel or Georg Hoefnagel (1542 – 24 July 1601) was a Flemish painter, printmaker, miniaturist, draftsman and merchant.
Forum Vulcani: The Hot Springs at Pozzuoli
Plate 76: Insects with a Pink and Cream Columbine
Plate 51: Two Sand Lizards, a Common Parsley Frog(?), and a Caterpillar
Plate 1: Elephant with Insects
Plate 60: Magpie, Crow, and Goldfinch
Plate 67: Two Doves beneath a Gourd and Apples
Plate 31: Seven Moths
Plate 21: Swamp Hen and Woodcock with a Streaked Rosefinch, a Finch, and Oak Galls
Plate 13: Yellow Swallowtail and Red Admiral Butterflies with a Dragonfly (Broad-Bodied Chaser?)
Plate 14: Common Brimstone, Painted Lady, and Clouded Yellow Butterflies
Butterfly (Old World Swallowtail)
Plate 9: Meadow Brown, Gatekeeper, Clouded Yellow, and Bath White Butterflies
Plate 8: Orange Tip, Painted Lady, Southern Small White, and Small Tortoiseshell Butterflies
Plate 17: Brimstone and Meadow Brown(?) Butterflies, a Blue Chaser, and Two Small Insects
Swallow-tailed Butterfly and Twelve Other Insects
Plate 60: Leafy Spurge Hawkmoth Caterpillar, Gray Dagger Caterpillar, and Pupae
Plate 22: A Cinnabar Moth and a Cockchafer with Butterflies, other Insects, and a Snapdragon
Plate 15: Grayling Butterfly, Magpie Moth, and Two Chrysalides
Plate 19: Two Butterflies with Five Other Insects
Plate 69: Emperor Moth Caterpillar with a Second Caterpillar on a Branch