Plate 43: Musk Beetle, Oil Beetle, Tansy Beetle(?), Cockroach, Leaf-Footed Bug, and Other Insects

Joris Hoefnagel

National Gallery of Art

This is a painting of six different insects arranged within a golden oval boundary, each illustrated with attention to their details. The insects vary in color and form, from a large green beetle in the center with elongated legs, to smaller black, brown, and green insects. They appear to cast shadows on the paper below them, and each insect has a small number by it. The Latin text "ABOMINANDVS CATHARIS" is inscribed at the top, and on the right are the numerals "XXXXIII". The background is plain, off-white paper.