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Beasts of the Devil, Perishables, and the Natura Morta
Gregory Chan
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DOI:10.17265/2159-5836/2013.06.007
Kwantlen Polytechnic University, Surrey, Canada
Bugs have long embodied that from which we seek protection. Whether a mild irritant (a “fly in the ointment”), a costly pest to gardeners (“bug off!”), or a destructive force of Biblical proportions (a swarm of locusts), bugs are nature’s warning of approaching death. This paper investigates the natura morta canvas during the Golden Age of Dutch art, focusing on how these symbols of natural evil work to enliven the visual rhetoric of the still-life as they invite spiritual contemplation. In religious-themed art, we intuitively recognize these morbid creatures as symbols of decay encroaching on domestic scenes filled with food and cut flowers. Emphasizing the short life of these perishables, bugs embody a classic tension and its dichotomous variations: the corporeal vs. the spiritual, earth vs. heaven, and sin vs. redemption. Though ostensibly a peripheral feature of the natura morta, bugs are a decidedly central motif that reflects the viewer’s struggle with sin: Is it repellent, attractive, or repellently attractive? This study will concern the visual rhetoric of flies, dragonflies, and bees in the works of Osias Beert, Ambrosius Bosschaert, and Georg Flegel, with an emphasis on the beasts of the devil as icons of Dutch art.
still-life, Dutch paintings, religious art, death
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