Plate 20: Sea Bream, Dentex, Sargo, and Other Fish c. 1575 - 1580

Editor: This is Plate 20: Sea Bream, Dentex, Sargo, and Other Fish by Joris Hoefnagel, dating to around 1575-1580. It's rendered in watercolour and coloured pencil. I'm immediately struck by the artist's commitment to documenting the visual characteristics of each species. What do you see as you look at this piece? Curator: Note the compositional arrangement, with the fishes distributed in an ovoid field, seemingly afloat in an aquatic medium. Semiotically, the water serves to denote their natural habitat. I observe that each species, while rendered with some attention to detail, contributes primarily to an overall formal configuration. Consider the placement of the fins and tails—their angles direct the eye in a calculated manner across the surface. How do you interpret the colour choices? Editor: I notice that while each fish has different colours, there's a harmonious palette uniting them, like a chord in music. It seems intentional. Curator: Indeed. Hoefnagel’s employment of colour serves less as direct mimesis, and more as a tool to engage in formal relationships. Note the use of analogous colors and consider how they influence your experience of depth and perspective. The semiotic element takes a back seat to formalism here. What implications can we derive from that structural choice? Editor: I think it prioritizes the aesthetic experience over pure scientific illustration. It wants to show you the fish, but also give you something pleasing to look at. Curator: Precisely. And perhaps this exemplifies art’s autonomy to represent, not reproduce, the external world, through form, color, and line. I believe it reflects on art as artifice. A very intriguing plate. Editor: I'm going to look at early scientific illustrations differently now, thank you!