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Source Description
Born into a prominent family of Dutch marine painters, Adriaen van de Velde was admired as a landscape painter. He specialized in atmospheric pastoral scenes that feature livestock and rustic figures drawn from life. This intimate study of a shepherdess searching for fleas exemplifies the artist’s skilled use of red chalk to capture the effects of light and shade.
Scholar Source Context
Document identity
localId
142477
label
Seated Woman Searching for Fleas
core
obj
dtoType
drawing
pageCount
1
Source metadata
id
142477
contentType
drawing
title
Seated Woman Searching for Fleas
description
Born into a prominent family of Dutch marine painters, Adriaen van de Velde was admired as a landscape painter. He specialized in atmospheric pastoral scenes that feature livestock and rustic figures drawn from life. This intimate study of a shepherdess searching for fleas exemplifies the artist’s skilled use of red chalk to capture the effects of light and shade.
date
c. 1671
rights
CC0
rightsUri
CC0
language
en
wikidata
Q80042388
creators
2700
genreSpecific
Drawing
imageCount
1
source
import
dimensionsRaw
Sheet: 18.4 x 23.4 cm (7 1/4 x 9 3/16 in.); Secondary Support: 18.4 x 23.4 cm (7 1/4 x 9 3/16 in.)
cul
Netherlands
accession
1966.239
Source extras
tec
red chalk over black chalk; framing lines in pen and brown ink
tombstone
Seated Woman Searching for Fleas, c. 1671. Adriaen van de Velde (Dutch, 1636–1672). Red chalk over black chalk; framing lines in pen and brown ink; sheet: 18.4 x 23.4 cm (7 1/4 x 9 3/16 in.); secondary support: 18.4 x 23.4 cm (7 1/4 x 9 3/16 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, John L. Severance Fund, 1966.239
supportMaterials
description
Japanese paper laid down on cream(3) laid paper, with fragments of tertiary and quaternary supports of beige(1) laid paper
collection
DR - Dutch
inscriptions
inscription
upper left, in blue pencil: VX ; VERSO OF QUATERNARY SUPPORT, upper center, in graphite: [mln?][upside down]
didYouKnow
Considered mere nuisances for those living in close proximity to animals, fleas would only become known as carriers of such illnesses as the bubonic plague almost 200 years after this drawing was made.
citations
citation
Stechow, Wolfgang. “A Painting and a Drawing by Adriaen van de Velde.” <em>The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art</em> 54, no. 2 (February 1967): 30–35.
page_number
Mentioned and reproduced: p. 33-34, fig. 5
creditline
John L. Severance Fund
updatedAt
2026-05-29 07:18:48.234000
sourceId
142477
dept
Drawings
coll
DR - Dutch
med
red chalk over black chalk; framing lines in pen and brown ink
creatorTags
male
thumbnail_url
image_url
Single page context
seq
1
pageIndex
0
type
photo
mediaId
f1193918e176b110