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Botanical watercolor drawing of a stem of the rock breaker plant, and a butterfly with opened wingspan.

Stem of a rock breaker (Saxifrage) plant features one long thin stem of alternating tiny white flowers, with two notched ovate leaves crisscrossing each other at the bottom. One leaf illustrates the green top with light-green vein formations, and other reveals the soft reddish underside. A brown butterfly with yellow markings along the edge of its wings, floats in the top right, facing right as if flying off the page. Slight shadows underneath both give dimensionality, the background is antique white. Manuscript of the Latin names in the lower right.

Identification and Creation

Object Number
4.1965.4
People
Unidentified Artist
Previously attributed to Josef Abel, Austrian (1764 - 1818)
Title
Plant and Insect Study: "Rock Breaker"; Polidamas Butterfly
Classification
Drawings
Work Type
drawing
Date
18th-19th century
Culture
Austrian
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/311951

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Transparent and opaque watercolor with black ink, gum additions and traces of graphite on off-white modern laid paper
Dimensions
36.8 x 24 cm (14 1/2 x 9 7/16 in.)
Inscriptions and Marks
  • watermark: letters G or C(?) [cut off]

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Fogg Museum, Loan from the Collection of Edouard Sandoz
Object Number
4.1965.4
Division
European and American Art
Contact
am_europeanamerican@harvard.edu
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Exhibition History

  • 32Q: 2240 18th Century, Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, 10/22/2019 - 02/25/2020

Verification Level

This record was created from historic documentation and may not have been reviewed by a curator; it may be inaccurate or incomplete. Our records are frequently revised and enhanced. For more information please contact the Division of European and American Art at am_europeanamerican@harvard.edu