Germany / 1583
Dead Blue Roller
The Cleveland Museum of Art catalogs Dead Blue Roller as drawing (Germany · 1583).
This realistic portrait of a dead bird signals a turn toward objective depictions of nature in the 1500s.
A CLOSER LOOK
The museum identifies this drawing as watercolor and gouache with touches of gold and credits Hans Hoffmann (German, 1545/50–1591/92).
The museum's collection notes: Half a century after the death of the German Renaissance artist Albrecht Dürer, his work continued to inspire artists and collectors. Hans Hoffmann was well known for his copies of Dürer’s nature studies, and in 1583 he faithfully copied Dürer’s celebrated drawing of a dead blue roller of 1512 in this exquisite watercolor. A network of very fine brushstrokes imitates the individual plumes of the bird’s underside while simultaneously suggesting an overall soft, downy texture. Several other copies of Dürer's composition exist, including one by Hoffmann in London. Both the London sheet and this sheet were signed with Hoffman’s prominent monogram
FOLLOW THE EVIDENCE
The Cleveland Museum of ArtDead Blue RollerOriginal explanation based on the sources above. Images carry their own reuse terms.