In the late 1500s, Netherlandish artists became interested in the natural world like never before.
Local insects and other previously overlooked beestjes—“little beasts” in Dutch—captured their imaginations. And new species arrived at their doorsteps via colonial expeditions and global trade.
Artists like Joris Hoefnagel studied insects, birds, and other animals as part of a larger community of naturalists. Hoefnagel captured his observations in The Four Elements, a series of about 300 watercolors bound into four books.
Read more about the artist and his works at the National Gallery of Art.
