Study of a Tulip (Gemarmerde van Jasper)

c. 1645

Pieter Holsteyn II

(Dutch, c.1612–1673)

Culture

Netherlands

Medium

brush and watercolor in crimson, gray, and green over traces of charcoal on antique laid paper

Measurements

Sheet: 32 x 21.1 cm (12 5/8 x 8 5/16 in.)

Credit Line

John L. Severance Fund 2019.5

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Location

Not on view

Did You Know?

In 17th-century Holland, some tulip bulbs were as expensive as a stately Amsterdam canal house!

Description

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 Dutch name, inscribed on the sheet, translates roughly to "marriage of jasper stone."