Feeding the silkworms (I) c.1590
Pen and brown ink with brown and grey wash over traces of black chalk, heightened with white; indented for transfer | 17.8 x 26.7 cm (sheet of paper) | RCIN 904763
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A drawing of a view through a series of rooms with women working. On the left two women examine silkworms on the branches of mulberry trees; in the centre two women examine cocoons; on the right another woman examines drying mulberry leaves on racks. In the background room women are drying linen on lines. This is a preparatory drawing for plate 4 of the series entitled, Vermis Sericus. RCIN 904755, 904763-904766 are finished preparatory drawings for five of the six engravings in reverse, entitled Vermis Sericus. This is a history of the silkworm and silk-spinning, by Karel de Malle, published by Philip Galle, without date or place, and dedicated to Constantia Alamannia, wife of Raffaello de 'Medici in Florence.
Provenance
First recorded in a Royal Collection inventory of c.1810 (Inv. A, P.18: 'Strada & old Masters 73 Drawings 55 pages')
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Medium and techniques
Pen and brown ink with brown and grey wash over traces of black chalk, heightened with white; indented for transfer
Measurements
17.8 x 26.7 cm (sheet of paper)