Two Grasshoppers
c. 1685
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
Dimensions
Primary/secondary supports: 11.9 × 14.3 cm (4 11/16 × 5 11/16 in.)
Classification
watercolor
Department
Prints and Drawings
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
74103
Rights
Public Domain
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.