Term with snails and strapwork (recto); Candelabra grotesque with two figures (verso) 1540 - 1550

Andrés de Melgar created this pen and brown ink drawing, featuring a term with snails and strapwork. The grotesque style, popular during the Renaissance, showcases fantastical creatures and ornate, intertwining forms, drawing from ancient Roman decorations rediscovered during the excavation of Nero’s Domus Aurea. Here, hybrid figures, part human, part animal, evoke a sense of the uncanny. Snails, symbols of slowness and transformation, contrast with the dynamic energy of the dragons, reflecting a preoccupation with metamorphosis. We see echoes of such hybrid creatures in ancient Egyptian mythology. Consider, for example, the chimera, a composite being from Greek mythology, embodying primal fears and desires, resurfacing in the medieval gargoyles, guarding sacred spaces, to the creatures in Bosch’s paintings. These motifs tap into our collective memory, embodying primal fears and desires. This drawing, therefore, is not just a decorative study, but a powerful expression of the subconscious, engaging viewers on a deep, emotional level. The cyclical progression of these symbols continues, evolving and taking on new meanings.