Plate 16: Eels, Pipefish, and Needlefish c. 1575 - 1580

Editor: So, this is "Plate 16: Eels, Pipefish, and Needlefish," made around 1575-1580 by Joris Hoefnagel. It's a watercolor and colored-pencil drawing. The collection of serpentine creatures swimming around seems…almost unsettlingly scientific, like a biologist’s fever dream. What do you see in it? Curator: I see a confluence of science and symbolism characteristic of the Renaissance. Consider the eel, prominent here; for centuries it embodied duality - both phallic symbol and creature of the underworld. Hoefnagel presents not just the creature itself, but a loaded signifier. Editor: A loaded signifier? Could you explain that further? Curator: Think of the serpent in the Garden of Eden, its slippery form carrying layers of temptation and knowledge, yet also, sin. Here, rendered with scientific precision, we see these associations surface once more. Observe also how Hoefnagel labels each specimen - a system for classifying the natural world, but each with its own history of symbolic weight. Do you see how the very act of naming transforms the creature? Editor: I do. The act of naming feels almost like…claiming? Or even trying to contain the "eel-ness" that you were talking about, with its different, sometimes conflicting, meanings. Curator: Precisely. In essence, Hoefnagel isn't just documenting, he’s grappling with a cultural memory. Each creature holds within it an echo of prior understandings. Editor: It's incredible how a drawing of eels can reveal such a deep well of historical meaning. I’ll definitely look at Renaissance art differently now. Curator: Indeed. Images are never just what they seem; they carry echoes of belief and understanding across time.