Jacob Hoefnagel
(1575–ca. 1630)
Orpheus Charming the Animals
Signed and dated at lower left in gold, Ja: Houfnagl / 1613.
1613
Watercolor and gouache, heightened with white gouache, over traces of black chalk, on vellum mounted on panel, bordered in gold
6 9/16 x 8 1/4 inches (166 x 210 mm)
Purchased on the Sunny Crawford von Bülow Fund 1978
1998.22
Item description:
Court painter to Rudolf II in Prague from 1602 to 1613, Hoefnagel specialized in small format mythological scenes on vellum or copper. This drawing is such a work, and its date and exquisite finish suggest that it may have been a courtly commission. The subject was popular in northern European art in the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries, reflecting the vogue for encyclopedic representations of nature.