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Cabbage worms

Unknown

1800

paint

From the collection of Victoria and Albert Museum

Realism Romanticism Early 19th Century Floral

Dominant colour

Cabbage worms is a 1800 paint by Unknown, a Realism work, held at Victoria and Albert Museum.

Who painted this?: Unknown
When & what style?: 1800 · Realism
Where can I see it?: Victoria and Albert Museum

About this work

Two green cabbage worms sit on a leaf. Their bodies are striped with yellow, their heads small and dark. The painting shows every detail. No background. Just the worms and the leaf. This was painted in the 1800s. At the time, British people loved pictures of foreign bugs. Travelers brought back specimens and artists painted them. This piece shows that hobby in tiny form. Look for more tiny art at the Victoria and Albert Museum.

The story of this work

Overview

The work depicts three stages of the cabbage worm’s life cycle—an egg, a larva feeding on cabbage flowers, and a mature butterfly—rendered in a rectangular composition. It reflects the 18th- and 19th-century British fascination with exotic flora and fauna, which spread from botanists to the wider public. The painting was acquired from E. Parsons in 1889, as recorded in the Asia Department registers following a 2022 provenance research project.

Read the full account in the museum source.