# Insects and a Sprig of Rosemary

**Jan van Kessel the Elder** (Flemish, 1626–1679)  
1653  
oil on copper  
overall: 11.5 × 14 cm (4 1/2 × 5 1/2 in.)

Courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington, 2018.41.1. [The museum's record](https://www.nga.gov/collection/art-object-page.216025.html).

## About this work

Jan van Kessel the Elder painted this in 1653, aged 27. It is now at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC.

### What you’re looking at

A sprig of flowering rosemary lying against an ivory-white background and the twelve insects that surround it fills this horizontal painting. Stretching nearly the length of the composition with the cut end to our left, the rosemary has blunted, needle-like, gently curling teal-green leaves and small periwinkle-blue flowers along the ash-brown stem. Several insects perch on the sprig while others are seen as if looking from overhead, resting on the white background. The three largest insects perch along the top of the sprig, with an ivory-white butterfly with moss-green and black markings to the left, a black and golden, fuzzy bumblebee near the center, and a lemon-yellow butterfly with red antennae to our right. A tiny red insect, perhaps a ladybug without spots, sits on a leaf between the bee and yellow butterfly, and a small wasp-like insect rests on a leaf in at the lower left. Another mosquito-like insect alights on the surface nearby, next to a beetle with a honey-orange body with black, almost tiger-like stripes. A large cockroach sitting near the lower right corner has six spindly legs, a mahogany-colored abdomen, a black thorax, and tiny, black head. Spaced somewhat evenly across the top of the panel are a brick-red, winged insect to the left, a mint-green, beetle-like bug near a moth patterned with bone white and black, and a black, fly-like insect to our right. Lit from the upper left, the rosemary and insects cast shadows on the surface. The artist signed and dated the work with gray in the lower left corner: “J v. kessel . . f. Ao 1653.”

_Description from the National Gallery of Art._

### How it was made

- **Oil on copper.** A sheet of copper gives oil paint a hard, glass-smooth surface, ideal for small pictures with jewel-like detail.
- **Oil paint.** Pigment ground in a drying oil, usually linseed. It dries slowly, so painters could blend on the canvas, build up thin translucent glazes, and rework a picture over weeks. Canvas replaced wooden panels in the 1500s because it is lighter and can be rolled.

### [Jan van Kessel the Elder](https://www.ochreeditions.com/artists/jan-van-kessel-the-elder)

Flemish, 1626–1679

## Facts

- Type: Painting
- The artist was 27
- Real size: about 4½ × 5½ in (12 × 14 cm). The original is small: even the 8 × 10 in print shows it larger than life.
- Century: 17th century
- Subjects: Butterflies, Bee, Insects, flowers, animals
- Colour: grey
- Rights: public domain (CC0 1.0); free to use for any purpose.

## Get it

- Free download, full resolution: https://img.ochreeditions.com/m/1697.jpg?dl=1
- Image: https://img.ochreeditions.com/a/1697/1920.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
- 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
- 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
- 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

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/insects-and-a-sprig-of-rosemary-nga-216025).