Study of a Tulip (Wit en root boode) — About This Work
Pieter Holsteyn II, c. 1645
About the Work
Red and white markings animate the tulip's petals above a single stem and green leaves. Holsteyn gives the flower the space of a complete sheet, allowing its particular pattern to remain the main event.
The museum identifies the image as part of a grower's tulip book. It connects the prized striations with a virus in the bulb, placing the flower's decorative appearance within the history of cultivation and trade.
Transparent and opaque watercolour work together with fine brush description. The result invites comparison between the flower's delicate changes of colour and the more definite shape of its leaves, keeping the individual specimen distinct.
The Work
Artist: Pieter Holsteyn II
Title: Study of a Tulip (Wit en root boode)
Date: c. 1645
Medium: Point of brush and transparent and opaque watercolors with traces of graphite and gum glazing on antique laid paper
Recorded dimensions: 20.6 × 31.2 cm (W × H)
Collection: Cleveland Museum of Art
Accession number: 2020.130
Print & Presentation
Palatine presentation: 30 × 40 cm Classic Frame, portrait.
The complete artwork is reproduced at its recorded scale, subject only to negligible whole-pixel rounding, without enlargement, reduction, cropping or distortion. The surrounding white presentation area accommodates the artwork within the framed presentation and is incorporated into the print rather than added as a separate mount.
Frame finishes: Black, White or Natural.
Paper & glazing: Enhanced Matte + Perspex; or Enhanced Matte + Moth-Eye.
Why Original Scale?
Most art-print shops offer the same image in a choice of Small, Medium and Large sizes. We take a different approach. For each edition, we begin with the recorded dimensions of the original work and reproduce the complete image at that scale, preserving its proportions and avoiding enlargement, reduction, cropping or distortion.
Source: Image: The Cleveland Museum of Art, CC0. Nancy F. and Joseph P. Keithley Collection Gift. 2020.130.
Care: Display in a dry interior away from prolonged direct sunlight and sources of moisture.
Notes from Palatine
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