Cornelis Saftleven
Dutch, 1607-1681
A Camel
INV-7421
Cornelis Saftleven
Dutch, 1607-16811646
ink or chalk washdrawings (visual works)
Date
1646
Medium
Black chalk and brush and black wash, with touches of brown and ochre chalk, on ivory laid paper
Dimensions
20.4 × 31.3 cm (8 1/16 × 12 3/8 in.)
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Location
Chicago, IL
Credit
Clarence Buckingham Collection
Although foreign to Europe, camels and other non-native animals were sometimes displayed as curiosities on the continent. Cornelis Saftleven recorded one such rare encounter, capturing the animal’s fur by using a combination of black, brown, and ocher chalk, in some areas (the head and haunches) wetting the media to create denser passages in contrast to the dryer, more disperse use of chalk elsewhere. The addition of ink wash added further shading to suggest the volumes of the camel’s body.
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