Plate 56: Water Scorpion, Water Measurer, Pond Skater, Red Water Mite, Leech(?), and Other Water Insects c. 1575 - 1580

Here we see a page from around 1600 by Joris Hoefnagel, depicting various water insects. Observe the leech, prominently positioned, its sleek, dark body a stark contrast to the watery environment. The leech, or "hirudo" as it was then known, carries a potent symbolism. In medieval times, it was a symbol of medical practice, used to balance the humors. But go further back and the leech appears in ancient Egyptian tombs as a funerary symbol. It’s a creature of duality: healer and parasite, life-giver and life-taker. Consider its appearance in later art, such as in unsettling surrealist compositions, where it represents hidden anxieties and repressed desires. This echoes humanity’s complex relationship with nature, where the boundaries between helper and menace blur. The emotional power of the image lies in this unsettling tension, a subconscious recognition of nature's ambivalent force. It reminds us that symbols are not static. They evolve, their meanings layered and reworked through the passage of time, always speaking to our deepest fears and hopes.