Loading

Study of a Tulip (Anvaers)

Pieter Holsteyn IIc. 1645

The Cleveland Museum of Art

The Cleveland Museum of Art
Cleveland, United States

This image of a tulip was made as part of a tulip book used as a grower’s marketing tool during the so-called tulip mania, a speculative bubble in 17th-century Holland, when ten tulip bulbs could cost more than a stately Amsterdam canal house. The striations on the tulip, which were caused by a virus in the bulb, made it especially valuable. Pieter Holsteyn II was one of many artists in the Netherlands at the time who specialized in botanical illustration.This tulip's name, inscribed on the sheet, is the French word for the city of Antwerp.

Show lessRead more
Download this artwork (provided by The Cleveland Museum of Art).
Learn more about this artwork.
  • Title: Study of a Tulip (Anvaers)
  • Creator: Pieter Holsteyn II (Dutch, c.1612-1673)
  • Date Created: c. 1645
  • Physical Dimensions: Sheet: 31.1 x 20.6 cm (12 1/4 x 8 1/8 in.)
  • Provenance: with Johan Bosch van Rosenthal, Amsterdam, Sotheby's, London, 14 December 1992, lot 178, Mr. and Mrs. Joseph P. Keithley, Cleveland, OH, The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • Type: Drawing
  • Rights: CC0
  • External Link: https://clevelandart.org/art/2020.131
  • Medium: Point of brush and transparent and opaque watercolors with traces of graphite and gum glazing on antique laid paper
  • Fun Fact: In 17th-century Holland, some tulip bulbs were as expensive as a stately Amsterdam canal house.
  • Department: Drawings
  • Culture: Netherlands
  • Credit Line: Nancy F. and Joseph P. Keithley Collection Gift
  • Collection: DR - Dutch
  • Accession Number: 2020.131
The Cleveland Museum of Art

Get the app

Explore museums and play with Art Transfer, Pocket Galleries, Art Selfie, and more

Home
Discover
Play
Nearby
Favorites