Pieris brassicae in the Louvre

[Mark Walker]

Sorry to take the thread off on another tangent, but I was visiting the
Louvre in France on Wednesday and stopped in my tracks as I admired a 17th
century painting (or was it 16th?). There, floating down above the
wrestling angels was the unmistaken likeness of Pieris brassicae - complete
with its oversized large black spots. What was particularly interesting was
the detail the artist provided for the fluttering butterfly. It included
the subtle yellow shading of the ventral hindwing, complete with venation.
The species was clearly readily available for perspective study at the time
of the painting. I wonder how many he admired in order to capture the
likeness so effectively.

I wish I would have written down the artist and date. It's cool to know
that these bugs have been around and have been enjoyed for that long.

Mark Walker.

> -----Original Message-----
> From: John Snyder [mailto:john....@furman.edu]
> Sent: Wednesday, October 02, 2002 6:11 AM
> To: lep...@lists.yale.edu
> Subject: Pieris brassicae in U.S.
>
> A colleague of mine has done work with living Pieris brassicae in England
> and would like to transfer the research to the U.S. It would involve
> close containment of all stages of the life cycle--no release or field
> work.
>
> His questions: (1) Is a USDA permit needed for such work? (2) Is there
> anyone in the U.S. currently maintaining a colony of brassicae, where my
> colleague could obtain eggs or early larvae? Who might that be?
>
> Replies can be sent directly to me at the email address below.
>
> John Snyder
> john....@furman.edu
>
>
>
>
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[Michael Gochfeld]

Mark,
It's my understanding that you are allowed to write down the artist and date
(but they don't let you take pictures).
I too marvelled at that picture (and also didn't write down the artist).

There are some remarkable butterfly paintings from the 17th century. MIKE
GOCHFELD