Who painted Plate 34: Three Dogs, Including a "Mimick"?

Plate 34: Three Dogs, Including a "Mimick" was painted by Joris Hoefnagel in 1594.

Where can I see Plate 34: Three Dogs, Including a "Mimick"?

Plate 34: Three Dogs, Including a "Mimick" is held by National Gallery of Art.

What movement is Plate 34: Three Dogs, Including a "Mimick"?

Plate 34: Three Dogs, Including a "Mimick" is associated with Renaissance.

Artwork

Plate 34: Three Dogs, Including a "Mimick"

Joris Hoefnagel , 1594

Plate 34: Three Dogs, Including a "Mimick" is a gouache drawing by the Renaissance artist Joris Hoefnagel. It dates from 1594 and is held in the collection of the National Gallery of Art. Created circa 1594, this small round watercolor depicts three canine figures rendered on parchment and accented with gold paint.

About this work

Overview

Created circa 1594, this small round watercolor depicts three canine figures rendered on parchment and accented with gold paint.

Created circa 1594, this small round watercolor depicts three canine figures rendered on parchment and accented with gold paint. The composition is intimate, presenting the animals against a minimal ground of earth and scattered stones. The work exemplifies the meticulous observation characteristic of Joris Hoefnagel, a Flemish artist whose output straddles natural history illustration and decorative manuscript illumination.

Subject & Meaning

The central figure is a stout white dog wearing a blue collar, lying calmly while observing a diminutive, floppy‑eared creature to its right. To the left, a tall, slender dog sniffs the soil. The smallest animal, whose features blur the line between dog and cat, is labeled a “mimick,” suggesting a curiosity about hybrid or deceptive forms within the natural world.

Technique & Style

Hoefnagel employed delicate watercolor washes layered to achieve subtle tonal shifts, while fine brushwork renders the fur and textures with precision. Gold paint highlights select details, adding a luminous accent typical of late‑medieval illumination. The overall palette is soft, and the rendering balances scientific exactitude with a gentle, almost narrative quality.

History & Provenance

Attributed to Joris Hoefnagel, a noted Flemish draftsman and one of the final practitioners of manuscript illumination, the piece belongs to a series of naturalistic plates produced for a private collection. Its survival on parchment indicates it was likely part of a larger codex or album of curiosities assembled in the late sixteenth century.

Context

During the late 1500s, Northern European artists increasingly merged observational study with decorative art, a trend reflected in Hoefnagel’s work. His interest in flora and fauna prefigured the emergence of floral still‑life painting in the region, and this canine study illustrates his broader engagement with cataloguing the natural world for both scholarly and aesthetic purposes.