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Adriaen van de Velde

Seated Woman Searching for Fleas

c. 1671
red chalk over black chalk; framing lines in pen and brown ink

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In the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland · as of July 2026

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FROM THE CLEVELAND MUSEUM OF ART’S CATALOG

Considered mere nuisances for those living in close proximity to animals, fleas would only become known as carriers of such illnesses as the bubonic plague almost 200 years after this drawing was made.

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