Getting started with the collection:
Ocean Sunfish (Mola Mola)
Anselmus Boëtius de Boodt, 1596 - 1610
The ocean sunfish owes its Latin name Mola, meaning millstone, to its leathery and rough skin. The Dutch name Maanvis, or moonfish, derives from the resemblance between its shape and the celestial body. De Boodt might have seen a stuffed specimen in Emperor Rudolf II’s cabinet of curiosities. Just how large that moonfish was is not clear in this drawing: they can reach a size of 4 metres.
- Artwork typedrawing
- Object numberRP-T-BR-2017-1-6-13
- Dimensionsheight 255 mm x width 184 mm
- Physical characteristicspenseel in waterverf en dekverf in kleuren over potlood of zwart krijt, gehoogd met witte dekverf, handschrift in pen in bruin