The Collecting of Bitumen [above]; Catching Night Moths [below]
date: label: Date
content: 1596 or before
name: label: Artist
content: Jan van der Straet, called Stradanus, Flemish, 1523–1605
notes: label: Catalogue Status
content: Research in Progress
label: Description
content: Recto, above: Seascape with two small open boats in the foreground and a large ship farther out to sea. The scene is set in Sicily, and mountains line the shore at right and in the background. The small boats are filled with men, some of whom reach down to use sponges to collect bitumen from the surface of the waves.
label: Description
content: Recto, below: Nighttime scene set in an outdoor area near farm buildings. At the center, an oven or open furnace appears, with steam rising from a funnel above. Figures in the foreground use sticks to beat surrounding shrubbery.
label: Description
content: Verso, above: Landscape with men on horseback using spears to hunt buffalo. Dogs run among the large animals, biting at their legs.
label: Description
content: Verso, below: Men in small boats approaching a rocky shore, meant to depict the coast of Sicily. Some men dive to collect coral, others rise to the surface wearing goggles.
place: label: made in
content: Florence, Tuscany, Italy
setName: label: See more items in
content: Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum Collection
label: See more items in
content: Drawings, Prints, and Graphic Design Department
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Museum purchase through gift of various donors
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum
identifier: label: Accession Number
content: 1901-39-2638
objectType: label: Type
content: figures
label: Object Name
content: Drawing
label: Type
content: Drawing
objectRights: label: Restrictions & Rights
content: CC0
physicalDescription: label: Medium
content: Pen and brown ink, brush and brown and black washes over black chalk on laid paper
label: Dimensions
content: H x W: 13.9 × 9.6 cm (5 1/2 × 3 3/4 in.)