Schelpen 1820 - 1833

Anton Weiss made this drawing of shells in the 19th century, meticulously rendered with graphite on paper. Shells, these protective exoskeletons, have carried symbolic weight across millennia. Here, Weiss captures their intricate beauty, yet consider their deeper resonance. Since ancient times, the shell, particularly the scallop, has been associated with pilgrimage, rebirth, and the sacred feminine. In Botticelli's "Birth of Venus," the goddess emerges from a giant scallop, embodying divine beauty born from the sea. Even now, the spiral form of shells echoes the Fibonacci sequence, a mathematical harmony found throughout nature. The shell is a vessel, a container, and a symbol of transformation, inviting us to contemplate the ebb and flow of existence. Just as a gastropod creates its shell layer by layer, our lives are shaped by cyclical patterns and the inexorable passage of time.