ID Tortoise species from a painting

[kameya]

Hi Forum members,

I visited Getty Center in Los Angeles yesterday and discovered a painting that has two well-depicted tortoises among other animals. Due to the size and scale of the painting, these two tortoises were painted fairly small compare to other animals in the painting. I was able to recognize one of the tortoises to be Hermann tortoise, but was not able to get a clear read on the other. Just want to share the photos I took on this painting to see if anyone on this forum able to ID the tortoises in the painting. Thanks.

 

[zovick]

Hi Forum members,

I visited Getty Center in Los Angeles yesterday and discovered a painting that has two well-depicted tortoises among other animals. Due to the size and scale of the painting, these two tortoises were painted fairly small compare to other animals in the painting. I was able to recognize one of the tortoises to be Hermann tortoise, but was not able to get a clear read on the other. Just want to share the photos I took on this painting to see if anyone on this forum able to ID the tortoises in the painting. Thanks.

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The second tortoise looks as though it could be a Pancake Tortoise or a Spider Tortoise. It also might be considered a Star Tortoise going by its pattern, but the shell is not highly domed enough for a Star Tortoise IMHO.

 

[Gillian M]

Lovely paintings. Thanks for sharing.

I have a feeling that the one on the "left" is a leopard tort - but I'm not sure.

@Yvonne G
@ZEROPILOT
@Tom

please help. Thank you all.

 

[kameya]

Here is the link to to the painting on museum's website... you can download the original image in high rez...

The Entry of the Animals into Noah's Ark (The J. Paul Getty Museum Collection)

Explore the collection of the J. Paul Getty Museum at the Getty Center and the Getty Villa.

www.getty.edu

 

[mark1]

somebody should inform this noah dude about mixing species ......... sorry , couldn't help it ...........

 

[ZEROPILOT]

somebody should inform this noah dude about mixing species ......... sorry , couldn't help it ...........

Yep
Tortoise and Guinea pig deja vu

 

[Yvonne G]

Yep
Tortoise and Guinea pig deja vu

Not only that, but I tink Mark may have been talking about the "pair" of tortoises maybe being a leopard and a pancake???

 

[mark1]

that guy was just wrong on so many levels , mixing species and hybrids ............

 

[TammyJ]

that guy was just wrong on so many levels , mixing species and hybrids ............

Noah was OK. It was Broughel the artist that set them up like that.

 

[mark1]

Noah was OK. It was Broughel the artist that set them up like that.

was before the internet ..........

 

[Farcryjj]

Russian tortoise didn't even make it on the painting...

 

[JTH]

Knowing what was most familiar to a European artist helps— I think the top (left hand) tortoise is a European species, probably Testudo hermanni. The other (right) is different though, with the carapacial rays... it does look something like a pancake tortoise, but wondering what might most likely turn up in a Brussels menagerie in the 1600s. The other exotic animals in the painting are largely African, so guessing that the second tortoise is African might be logical. So if not a pancake, perhaps leopard tortoise is a good guess!

 

[TaraMaiden]

More's the point, apart from mixing species, are they Male or female? I dunno... this spells trouble, whatever the case! Can we send Noah an email about it? I think he should know....

 

[Shelled]

The right one looks like how some Kinixys sometimes look.

 

[William Lee Kohler]

The right one looks like how some Kinixys sometimes look.

I kind of thought the same thing. A Kinixys zombensis. Moreso than a Star or Pancake tortoise.

 

[TeamZissou]

I went to the Getty in January and noticed the tortoises in this painting as well. I am going to go with Hermann's tortoise (upper), and Geometric tortoise for the lower!

 

[William Lee Kohler]

I went to the Getty in January and noticed the tortoises in this painting as well. I am going to go with Hermann's tortoise (upper), and Geometric tortoise for the lower!

I tend to agree with the Geometric. I don't know the mediterraneans though.