Zeepaling genaamd Murena 1778

Editor: So, here we have Louis Ducros' "Zeepaling genaamd Murena" – Eel Called Moray – made in 1778. It's a delicate pencil drawing. Honestly, it gives me the chills; it looks so lifeless. What do you make of it? Curator: It does have that stillness about it, doesn’t it? But to me, it whispers of 18th-century scientific curiosity. Imagine Ducros, bending over this creature, meticulously capturing every detail with his pencil. Think of it not as lifeless, but captured, preserved for study, like a pressed flower in a botanist's journal. What does the stark presentation evoke? Editor: Well, without any context or surrounding, it feels very clinical. Almost like a specimen. It feels like he wasn’t interested in the eel’s natural environment. Curator: Precisely! This wasn’t about romanticising nature. It was about dissecting and understanding it. Though I also like to think that perhaps Ducros felt some sympathy for the little creature. Editor: Do you think? Curator: Artists often infuse more than they realize! Anyway, it’s a far cry from today's marine biology, but it gives us a glimpse into the mindset of that time. It seems to highlight the curiosity to document what was observed at the time, similar to an instagram of the time, albeit with different techniques. Editor: I suppose seeing it as an artifact of its time, a kind of scientific illustration, makes it a little less creepy. Curator: It’s all about perspective, isn’t it? Art reflecting science, science inspiring art! It almost inspires a poem!