# A Horseshoe Crab

**Pieter Holsteyn, the younger** (Dutch, 1614–1687)  
1640/80  
Watercolor and opaque watercolor on cream laid paper  
16.3 × 21.4 cm (6 7/16 × 8 7/16 in.)

Courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago, 2020.264. [The museum's record](https://www.artic.edu/artworks/258367).

## About this work

Pieter Holsteyn, the younger painted this in 1640/80, aged about 26. It is now at the Art Institute of Chicago.

### What you’re looking at

A work made of watercolor and opaque watercolor on cream laid paper.

_Description from the Art Institute of Chicago._

### How it was made

- **Opaque watercolour.** Watercolour made opaque with white or chalk and laid in flat, even layers. Persian and Indian painters ground their colours from minerals, applied them with the finest brushes and burnished the finished page.
- **Watercolour.** Pigment in gum arabic, thinned with water and laid in transparent washes. Nothing white is painted: the light is the paper showing through.
- **Laid paper.** Handmade on a mould of close-set wires, which leave fine parallel lines you can see when the sheet is held to the light.

### [Pieter Holsteyn, the younger](https://www.ochreeditions.com/artists/pieter-holsteyn-the-younger)

Dutch, 1614–1687

## Facts

- Type: Drawing and Watercolor
- Culture: Netherlands
- The artist was about 26
- Real size: about 6½ × 8½ in (16 × 21 cm). The original is small: even the 8 × 10 in print shows it larger than life.
- Century: 17th century
- Movement: [Dutch Golden Age](https://www.ochreeditions.com/movements/dutch-golden-age)
- Colour: white
- Rights: public domain (CC0 1.0); free to use for any purpose.

## Get it

- Free download, full resolution: https://img.ochreeditions.com/m/397.jpg?dl=1
- Image: https://img.ochreeditions.com/a/397/1920.jpg
- Giclée reproduction on Hahnemühle Photo Rag: 8 × 10 in $28; 11 × 14 in $38; 12 × 16 in $42; 16 × 20 in $56; 18 × 24 in $68; 20 × 30 in $86; 24 × 36 in $108; 30 × 40 in $148
- Framed reproduction: 8 × 10 in $78; 11 × 14 in $98; 12 × 16 in $108; 16 × 20 in $138; 18 × 24 in $164; 20 × 30 in $208; 24 × 36 in $258; 30 × 40 in $338
- Canvas reproduction: 8 × 10 in $58; 11 × 14 in $72; 12 × 16 in $79; 16 × 20 in $98; 18 × 24 in $118; 20 × 30 in $148; 24 × 36 in $178; 30 × 40 in $228
- Print-ready file: 8 × 10 in $2; 11 × 14 in $2; 12 × 16 in $3; 16 × 20 in $3; 18 × 24 in $3; 20 × 30 in $5; 24 × 36 in $5; 30 × 40 in $5

Sizes stop where the museum's file would print below 150 pixels per inch. Everything sold is a reproduction, made to order. [Order a print](https://www.ochreeditions.com/art/a-horseshoe-crab-aic-258367).