Dieren verbeeld. Diervoorstellingen in tekeningen, prenten en schilderijen door kunstenaars uit de Zuidelijke Nederlanden tussen 1550 en 1630

Abstract

This study investigates the development between 1550 to 1630 of Southern Netherlandish animal imagery into an autonomous genre in relation to developments in natural history, networks of artists and scientists and elite collecting practices in order to gain insight into the production, function, and meaning of animal imagery.

Before 1600 in Antwerp motifs circulated by means of an extensive network, through which animal drawings and print series flourished. Around 1600 in Prague a new medium blossomed: the exotic animal painting. With the new medium it appears that the circulation of motifs diminished and no new print series were published. Artists started studying animals from life in meangeries and naturalia collctions. The relation of the artworks to natural history also changed. Before 1600 artists copied motifs from illustrations in natural historical publications and paid much attentio to the order of the species. After 1600 artists strove to depict species that were not yet described and illustrated by natural historians and consequently contributed to and disseminated knowledge about these new species.