Onderkruipsels: ‘Kleyne dierkens’ in kunst en wetenschap (catalogus Rijksmuseum)
Hans Mulder, Jan de Hond, Eric Jorink
Rijksmuseum Amsterdam, 2022
€35,00
Small, teeming critters like insects, spiders, lizards and toads; these ‘creatures’ traditionally struggle with a negative image. In the Middle Ages, they are mainly associated with death and the devil. But in the 16th and 17th centuries, people began to appreciate their beauty. They appear in works of art, become the subject of scholarly treatises and become treasured collectibles.
Artists such as Albrecht Dürer, Wenzel Jamnitzer, Jan van Kessel I and Maria Sibylla Merian delve into the animals and depict them beautifully. Scientists such as Johannes Swammerdam and Antoni van Leeuwenhoek also become mesmerized. The ‘little animals’ are collected, studied, put under the microscope and imaged. Even today, the critters make their appearance in the work of visual artists, who propose other ways of interacting with insects and the natural world.
This lavishly illustrated publication is about the fascinating relationship between art and science and about the changing appreciation of insects and other creeps: from horror to wonder. IN DUTCH!/p>
ISBN: 9789462087552
