Plate 69: Nine Bees and Other Insects, c. 1575/1580

Inscription

Upper center in blue/violet ink: Ingentes animos angusto in pectore versant. (“[They] harbor great spirits in tiny breasts.” Virgil, _Georgics_, 4.83, 4.184) (trans. Bass 2019, 3) / VBI MEL IBI FEL. (“There is no honey without bile.”) (trans. Bass 2019, 4); insects in image numbered .1., in red ink; center right in (gold?): LXIX.; lower center in red/orange ink: VBI VBER IBI TVBER. (“There is no rose without thorns.”) (trans. Bass 2019, 4); lower center in black ink: Omnibus una quies operum labor omnibus unus. (“They all have one job, and one respite from labor.” Virgil, _Georgics_, 4.83, 4.184) (trans. Bass 2019, 4)
Facing page:
Upper center in red ink: Non laudes virum in specie sua: Neq[ue] spernas hominem in / visu suo. Brevis in volatilibus est Apis: et initium / dulcoris habet fructus eius. Eccl: 11: (“Praise not a man for his beauty, neither despise a man for his look. The bee is small among flying things, but her fruit has the chiefest sweetness.” Ecclesiasticus 11:2-3) (Latin Vulgate Bible); center in black ink: Dum puer alveolo furatur mella Cupido, / Furanti digitum cuspide fixit APIS. / Sic etiam nobis brevis et peritura voluptas, / Quam petimus tristi mixta dolore nocet.; lower center in red ink: In apes ne fervas, ne malum feras.; lower center in blue/black ink: Illis ira modum supra est [lesaeque?] venenum / Morsibus inspirant, et spicula caeca relinquunt / Affixa venis, animasq[ue] in vulnere ponunt.

Provenance

Emperor Rudolph of Austria; Lessing J. Rosenwald, Alverthorpe, PA; gift to NGA, 1987.

Exhibition History

1982

Drawings from the Holy Roman Empire, = 1540 - 1680, The Art Museum, Princeton University, National Gallery of Art, Museum of Art, Carnegie Insitute, Pittsburgh (exh. cat. by Thomas DaCosta Kaufmann, no. 56.

1982

Drawings from the Holy Roman Empire, 1540 - 1680, The Art Museum, Princeton University, National Gallery of Art, Museum of Art, Carnegie Insitute, Pittsburgh (exh. cat. by Thomas DaCosta Kaufmann, no. 56.

1998

A Collector's Cabinet, National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1998, no. 76.

1999

From Botany to Bouquets: Flowers in Northern Art, National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1999, no. 45, as Iris from Animalia Rationalia et Insecta (Ignis).

2002

Deceptions and Illusions: Five Centuries of Trompe l'Oeil Painting, National Gallery of Art, Washington, 2002-2003, no. 30, as Ignis (Animalia Rationalia et Insecta) Plate 47.

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