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A Sloth

Joris Hoefnagel1561–1562; illumination added 1591–1596

The J. Paul Getty Museum

The J. Paul Getty Museum
Los Angeles, United States

Beneath a canopied structure, a wiry-haired animal, perhaps a sloth, munches on a twig. A Latin text based on Jesus's Sermon on the Mount appears above. Although the text and image seem to fit perfectly together, the different elements on the page were made thirty years apart.The elegant Roman-style lettering was written by Georg Bocskay to display his mastery of calligraphy. The text originally appeared on a plain black background. The illustration was added later by Joris Hoefnagel, who saw in the diminishing script the suggestion of recession into space, an illusion defied by the two-dimensionality of the text. He thus enclosed the letters within an architectural canopy drawn in perspective. Hoefnagel also responded wittily to the black coloration of the page, interpreting it naturalistically as nighttime: the silvery tones of the animal's fur and the gold shimmer in the darkness.

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  • Title: A Sloth
  • Creator: Joris Hoefnagel, Georg Bocskay
  • Date Created: 1561–1562; illumination added 1591–1596
  • Location Created: Vienna, Austria
  • Physical Dimensions: Leaf: 16.6 × 12.4 cm (6 9/16 × 4 7/8 in.)
  • Type: Folio
  • External Link: Find out more about this object on the Museum website.
  • Medium: Watercolors, gold and silver paint, and ink on parchment
  • Terms of Use: Open Content
  • Number: 86.MV.527.106
  • Culture: Flemish and Hungarian
  • Credit Line: The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles, Ms. 20, fol. 106
  • Creator Display Name: Joris Hoefnagel (Flemish / Hungarian, 1542 - 1600) and Georg Bocskay (Hungarian, died 1575)
  • Classification: Manuscripts (Documents)
The J. Paul Getty Museum

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