About this artwork
Herman Henstenburgh was one among several Dutch artists who created scientifically accurate descriptions of plants and insects, in this case representing a member of the grasshopper species. The artist chose the relatively expensive support of vellum, a prepared calf’s skin historically used for illuminated manuscripts, to which he applied watercolors and ink over a carefully considered preliminary drawing executed in graphite.
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Status
- Currently Off View
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Department
- Prints and Drawings
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Artist
- Herman Henstenburgh
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Title
- Two Grasshoppers
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Place
- Holland (Artist's nationality:)
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Date
- 1680–1690
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Medium
- Watercolor and opaque watercolor, with pen and brown ink, over traces of graphite, on vellum, laid down on ivory laid paper, with pen and brown ink on paper verso
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Inscriptions
- Inscribed verso, in pen and brown ink: fragment of auction ledger
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Dimensions
- Primary/secondary supports: 11.9 × 14.3 cm (4 11/16 × 5 11/16 in.)
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Credit Line
- Everett D. Graff Endowment
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Reference Number
- 1989.166
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IIIF Manifest
- https://api.artic.edu/api/v1/artworks/74103/manifest.json