Insekten (dagvlinders) 1875 - 1903

Here we see an arrangement of butterflies made by Jan de Haan, part of a series of Dutch children's prints. These dagvlinders, or day butterflies, are potent symbols across cultures. In ancient Greece, Psyche, the soul, was depicted with butterfly wings, embodying transformation and immortality. Consider the butterfly's journey: from earthbound caterpillar to a creature of the air. This metamorphosis mirrors the human longing for spiritual transcendence, a theme echoed in funerary art from Roman sarcophagi to Renaissance paintings. But even before that, in ancient Egypt, they were part of the hieroglyph for the soul. The butterfly's delicate beauty can also suggest the ephemeral nature of life, a poignant reminder of mortality. It is this dance between life and death, freedom and fragility, that captures our collective imagination, fluttering through art history and emerging in the dreams of humankind.