A sprig of flowering rosemary lying against an ivory-white background and the twelve insects that surround it fills this horizontal painting. Stretching nearly the length of the composition with the cut end to our left, the rosemary has blunted, needle-like, gently curling teal-green leaves and small periwinkle-blue flowers along the ash-brown stem. Several insects perch on the sprig while others are seen as if looking from overhead, resting on the white background. The three largest insects perch along the top of the sprig, with an ivory-white butterfly with moss-green and black markings to…
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Insects and a Sprig of Rosemary

painter Jan van Kessel the Elder (Flemish, 1626 - 1679)

1653

Medium
oil on copper
Classification
Painting
Dimensions
overall: 11.5 × 14 cm (4 1/2 × 5 1/2 in.)
Culture
Dutch
Museum
National Gallery of Art, CNE-B
Credit line
The Richard C. Von Hess Foundation, Nell and Robert Weidenhammer Fund, Barry D. Friedman, and Friends of Dutch Art
Rights
Public domain (NGA Open Access, CC0), as the museum states it.
Who can see it
Little Ones profiles and older: it shows gentle subjects for the very young. How works are placed

View at the National Gallery of Art