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Source Description
While this small miniature, made with watercolor on parchment, depicts a scene from the Old Testament in the left foreground, its primary subject is the expansive rural scene, landscape, and distant hillside city beyond. Hans Bol combined realistic city views, based on his onsite observation, with imaginary scenes and narratives, appealing to his late-16th-century urban Netherlandish audience. The story of the Balaam and the Ass was associated with greed in the period. The miniature was likely paired with other scenes highlighting contemporary moral issues to be displayed together in a domestic setting.
Scholar Source Context
Document identity
localId
452866
label
Balaam and the Ass
core
obj
dtoType
drawing
pageCount
1
Source metadata
id
452866
contentType
drawing
title
Balaam and the Ass
description
While this small miniature, made with watercolor on parchment, depicts a scene from the Old Testament in the left foreground, its primary subject is the expansive rural scene, landscape, and distant hillside city beyond. Hans Bol combined realistic city views, based on his onsite observation, with imaginary scenes and narratives, appealing to his late-16th-century urban Netherlandish audience. The story of the Balaam and the Ass was associated with greed in the period. The miniature was likely paired with other scenes highlighting contemporary moral issues to be displayed together in a domestic setting.
date
1583
citation
rights
CC0
rightsUri
CC0
language
en
wikidata
Q115755103
creators
1245
genreSpecific
Drawing
imageCount
1
source
import
dimensionsRaw
Sheet: 13.7 x 19.6 cm (5 3/8 x 7 11/16 in.)
cul
Netherlands, 16th century
accession
2022.3
Source extras
tec
Gouache heightened with gold on vellum laid down on panel
tombstone
Balaam and the Ass, 1583. Hans Bol (Flemish, 1534–1593). Gouache heightened with gold on vellum laid down on panel; sheet: 13.7 x 19.6 cm (5 3/8 x 7 11/16 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, John L. Severance Fund, 2022.3
collection
DR - Flemish
inscriptions
inscription
Signed and dated in gold, on the trunk of the central tree: HBol 1583
inscription
bears old numbering on the panel verso: No 28
inscription
old inventory number on a label, verso: 268
didYouKnow
This work is mounted on panel, suggesting that it was once inlaid into a piece of furniture or wainscotting in a wealthy 16th-century home.
citations
citation
Hulst, Roger Adolf d'. Dessins du XVe au XVIIIe siècle: dans les collections privées de Belgique. Bruxelles: Société générale de banque, 1983.
page_number
p. 46-47, no. 17
citation
Peters, Emily J., Laura Ritter, William Griswold, Klaus Albrecht Schröder, and Koenraad Jonckheere. <em>Tales of the City: Drawing in the Netherlands from Bosch to Bruegel.</em> Cleveland, OH : Cleveland Museum of Art, 2022.
page_number
Mentioned and reproduced: p. 92-93, no.10
citation
Sotheby's (Firm). Master Works on Paper from Five Centuries. 2022.
page_number
Lot 2
creditline
John L. Severance Fund
updatedAt
2026-05-29 09:04:13.308000
sourceId
452866
dept
Drawings
coll
DR - Flemish
med
Gouache heightened with gold on vellum laid down on panel
creatorTags
male
thumbnail_url
image_url
Single page context
seq
1
pageIndex
0
type
photo
mediaId
6f55448ca14e1534