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A Hedgehog (Erinaceus roumanicus)

Image courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum of Arts | CC0 1.0

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Date

before 1584

Artist

Hans Hoffmann (c. 1545-c.1592)

Collection

The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Image Link

https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/370476

Description

This endearing study of a hedgehog dates from the second half of the sixteenth century, when the detailed study and portrayal of flora and fauna came into focus more and more. Due to the specialist skills required to replicate every minute detail characteristic for a specific animal or plant, certain artists, such as Hans Hoffmann and Joris Hoefnagel developed as specialists in this area. While Hoffmann was also active as a painter of portraits and religious subjects, he is best remembered for his highly finished drawings after nature. His initial inspiration however, was not nature itself per se, but the highly-detailed studies of it, made by his famous predecessor Albrecht Dürer, whose works were still admired and highly coveted. Several collectors in Nuremberg, the native town of both artists, owned such studies by Dürer and provided Hoffmann with inspiration. Medium: watercolor and gouache on vellum.

Image Licence

CC0 1.0

Image Credit

Image courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum of Arts

Location

Germany

Country

Tags

Hedgehogs
Mammals

Category

Glossary
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© 2024 Watercolour World | Technology by The Museum Platform

© 2024 Watercolour World | Technology by The Museum Platform