Crawly creatures

About the project

Insects and other ground-dwellers like snakes, lizards and frogs have had a bad reputation for a long time. They were supposedly born from dead material (spontaneous generation), and were associated with death and the devil. That image suddenly changed in the Early Modern period, when these animals came to be regarded as examples of the beauty of Creation and were first chosen as the subjects of works of art. It was also then that science began taking an interest in them. They were collected, described, studied and eventually also dissected under the microscope, and as a result were seen to be also examples of the ingenuity of Creation.

Aim of the project

The research is mainly concerned with the intricate relationship between art and science. It is examining the different modes of representation employed by artists and scientists to depict these small creatures. What is the relationship between the forms of representation and the purpose for which they were made, such as art, book illustrations, scientific information, and so on? And how did those forms influence each other. At the same time, the research is examining the evolving story of appreciation for these little creatures.

Related Publications

• E. Jorink, Het Boeck der Natuere. Nederlandse geleerden en de wonderen van Gods Schepping, 1575-1715, Leiden 2007
• J. Neri, The Insect and the Image. Visualizing Nature in Early Modern Europe, 1500-1700, Minneapolis 2011
• F. Egmond, Eye for Detail. Images of Plants and Animals in Art and Science, 1500-1630, 2017
• K. Leonard, Bildfelder: Stilleben und Naturstudie des 17. Jahrhunderts, Berlin 2013
• G. Seelig (ed.), Medusa’s Menagerie. Otto Marseus van Schrieck and the Scholars, Munich 2017
• M. Anne Bass, Insect Artifice. Nature and Art in the Dutch Revolt, Princeton 2019

Related Events

Exhibition Onderkruipsels, Rijksmuseum Amsterdam, September 2022 - January 2023

Symposium Crawly creatures in context, 26 October 2022