A new way of seeing

From the series Clara and Crawly creatures

Ignis: Hornet with spiders and spider web, Joris Hoefnagel, 1591-1599

As the Renaissance progressed, increasing value was placed on depicting insects as realistically and naturally as possible. These creatures were still used as symbols, however. In this work, for example, Joris Hoefnagel combines realism with a symbolic meaning.

Outcasts of creation

Associated with the devil, sin and death

A new way of seeing

Renaissance artists paint crawly creatures

Table ornament Table ornament

Uniting art and nature

Crawly creatures in the Kunstkammer (‘art chamber’)

The small print in the book of nature

Crawly creatures and God’s creation

Miraculous transformations

Maria Sibylla Merian studies Surinamese insects

Sottobosco

Crawly creatures get their own genre