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Study of a Chameleon

ca. 1668
Not on view
Returned to lender
This work of art was on loan to the museum and has since been returned to its lender.
Records mention a chameleon presented to the king for the Versailles Menagerie in 1668; it was most likely the one shown creeping along here. The animal was studied and later dissected by members of the newly founded Académie des Sciences. Painting from life, Boel sketched the various denizens of the recently finished Menagerie, which housed exotic birds and animals as well as livestock and domestic fowl for the royal table.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Study of a Chameleon
  • Artist: Pieter Boel (1622–1674)
  • Date: ca. 1668
  • Medium: Oil on canvas
  • Dimensions: Unframed: 13 3/4 × 17 11/16 in. (35 × 45 cm)
    Framed: 17 1/8 × 21 1/16 in. (43.5 × 53.5 cm)
  • Classification: Paintings
  • Credit Line: Musée du Louvre, Paris, Département des Peintures, Collection de Louis XIV (3976)
  • Curatorial Department: European Sculpture and Decorative Arts