Balaam and the Ass

Download3400 × 2320 px View on a wall Edit

Artist: Hans Bol (Flemish, 1534–1593)
Medium: Gouache heightened with gold on vellum laid down on panel
Size: Sheet: 13.7 x 19.6 cm (5 3/8 x 7 11/16 in.)
Culture: Netherlands, 16th century
Museum: Cleveland Museum of Art
Rights: CC0 — no rights reserved

While this small miniature, made with watercolor on parchment, depicts a scene from the Old Testament in the left foreground, its primary subject is the expansive rural scene, landscape, and distant hillside city beyond. Hans Bol combined realistic city views, based on his onsite observation, with imaginary scenes and narratives, appealing to his late-16th-century urban Netherlandish audience. The story of the Balaam and the Ass was associated with greed in the period. The miniature was likely paired with other scenes highlighting contemporary moral issues to be displayed together in a domestic setting.