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Botanical drawing of two woody stems side by side of the Snowflake (Leucojum) plant.

Two plants are drawn as if standing upright with a shadow at the bottom of the paper. The stem on the left is slender, taller, and wispier compared to the bushier one on the right. Both have delicate light purple-colored buds and flowers of four petals with a yellow center. Both have thin wiry green leaves, the plant on the right has slightly thicker leaves and more of them, and a thicker woody stem at the bottom. Initialed and dated in the lower left.　

Identification and Creation

Object Number
1.2018.158
People
Herman Saftleven, Dutch (Rotterdam, Netherlands 1609 - 1685 Utrecht, Netherlands)
Title
Two Varieties of Snowflake (Leucojum)
Other Titles
Alternate Title: A Bush
Classification
Drawings
Work Type
drawing
Date
1683
Culture
Dutch
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/212683

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Transparent and opaque watercolor with brown ink over black chalk on off-white antique laid paper
Dimensions
35.1 x 25 cm (13 13/16 x 9 13/16 in.)
Inscriptions and Marks
  • inscription: signed, recto, lower left, brown ink: .HS.f.1683.24. Júliús.
  • inscription: verso, lower left, brown ink: Leúcojúm AEthiopicúm Hirsútúm / Flore coerúleo Lini / Leucojúm. S. Hesperis AEthiopica / coronopi folia flore coerúleo Lini.
  • watermark: center: Strasbourg lily

Provenance

Recorded Ownership History
Sold [through unidentified auction] to; Maida and George Abrams, Boston, by 1991

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
The Maida and George Abrams Collection, Fogg Art Museum, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, Promised Gift
Accession Year
2018
Object Number
1.2018.158
Division
European and American Art
Contact
am_europeanamerican@harvard.edu
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Exhibition History

  • Seventeenth-Century Dutch Drawings: A Selection from the Maida and George Abrams Collection, Rijksprentenkabinet, Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, 02/23/1991 - 04/18/1991; Albertina Gallery, Vienna, 05/16/1991 - 06/30/1991; The Morgan Library & Museum, New York, 01/22/1992 - 04/22/1992; Harvard University Art Museums, Fogg Art Museum, Cambridge, 10/10/1992 - 12/06/1992
  • Mirror of Holland: Drawings from the Maida and George Abrams Collection, Part 1, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Boston, 11/20/2010 - 03/06/2011

Subjects and Contexts

  • Dutch, Flemish, & Netherlandish Drawings

Verification Level

This record has been reviewed by the curatorial staff but may be 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