What do you think?
Rate this book
Crawly Creatures: Little Animals in Art and Science
Crawly creatures: critters, spiders, lizards, toads and, above all, insects. In the Middle Ages they were mainly associated with death and the Devil; but in the 16th and 17th centuries, with the emergence of science, people began to appreciate their beauty, and such creatures appeared in works of art, became the subject of scholarly treatises and were popular collectors' items. Artists such as Albrecht Dürer, Wenzel Jamnitzer, Jan van Kessel and Maria Sibylla Merian created beautiful depictions of these creatures.
Today, artists are still inspired by "crawly creatures" and continue to depict new ways of dealing with insects and the natural world. This richly illustrated publication, designed by Irma Boom, celebrates the wonders of small creatures and the fascinating relationship between art and science across the centuries.
Today, artists are still inspired by "crawly creatures" and continue to depict new ways of dealing with insects and the natural world. This richly illustrated publication, designed by Irma Boom, celebrates the wonders of small creatures and the fascinating relationship between art and science across the centuries.
200 pages, Paperback
Published January 17, 2023
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
April 15, 2026
I strongly enjoyed this wonderful book right up until the final pages where, unfortunately, modern art, and modern theories, emerged.
The remainder is an exploration of the culture of insect/bug/'nonanimal' depictions from a northern European perspective and its great. The book is huge and the pictures are big and high quality. The interrelationships between Protestantism, lenses, the Renaissance, clockwork, Descarte, Empire and the business of art are fascinating (up until the end when it gets rubbish).
Still-lives with crawlers being weird are underrated and this book has absolutely loads of these extremely gothic and shadowy scenes of crawling wonder. The visual history of analytical crawler-paintings is beautiful and wonderous. The close interrelationship with the means of depiction, from Durers 'Stag Beetle' with the means of investigation; lenses, wax pressing, squashing, drying, drowning, drawing changing insects and crawlers, and the philosophy or anima behind this investigation; from Christian/Aristotelian insects as scripture, prayers or messages, simultaneously jewel-like examples of the multi-layered and ineffable attention of the Creator to every single layer of creation and also nasty dirty wormy little guys that smell and get everywhere, intermixing and layered upon each other through these largely excellent and very digestible essays.
A wonderous book and magnificent achievement, press the first chapters into wax before copying their form in bronze, for the final few chapters, squeeze them flat and paint over them.
The remainder is an exploration of the culture of insect/bug/'nonanimal' depictions from a northern European perspective and its great. The book is huge and the pictures are big and high quality. The interrelationships between Protestantism, lenses, the Renaissance, clockwork, Descarte, Empire and the business of art are fascinating (up until the end when it gets rubbish).
Still-lives with crawlers being weird are underrated and this book has absolutely loads of these extremely gothic and shadowy scenes of crawling wonder. The visual history of analytical crawler-paintings is beautiful and wonderous. The close interrelationship with the means of depiction, from Durers 'Stag Beetle' with the means of investigation; lenses, wax pressing, squashing, drying, drowning, drawing changing insects and crawlers, and the philosophy or anima behind this investigation; from Christian/Aristotelian insects as scripture, prayers or messages, simultaneously jewel-like examples of the multi-layered and ineffable attention of the Creator to every single layer of creation and also nasty dirty wormy little guys that smell and get everywhere, intermixing and layered upon each other through these largely excellent and very digestible essays.
A wonderous book and magnificent achievement, press the first chapters into wax before copying their form in bronze, for the final few chapters, squeeze them flat and paint over them.
December 12, 2024
It is so beautiful and full-of-facts remarks edition! I wish someday to have it on my home library to turn back to the beautiful and intricate illustrations!
October 24, 2024
Deze tentoonstelling heeft mijn leven veranderd. No joke. Thanks voor de inspiratie van (op dit moment) vier essays!
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews