Dieren, bloemen en vruchten rond een kikker 1592 - 1726

Editor: Okay, next up we have "Animals, Flowers and Fruit surrounding a Frog," a print made between 1592 and 1726 attributed to Jacob Hoefnagel, done in ink and engraving. It looks like… well, it feels like looking into a highly detailed, somewhat surreal terrarium. So many different lifeforms! What leaps out at you? Curator: Leaps! You used the perfect word, I think. Look at how Hoefnagel presents this enclosed world – a burst of curiosity meets scientific precision. I can almost feel the cool, damp earth just by looking. What do you make of the Latin inscriptions that border the scene? Editor: Hmm, I’m not sure! Something about friendship and… envy? I can make out a few words. Curator: Yes, you are spot on! Roughly translated, the upper inscription warns against using friendship like a flower, enjoying it only as long as it's fresh. And below, a declaration: "I labor as much from envious people as from marsh frogs.” Which speaks volumes about the artist's state of mind, doesn't it? He saw envy as a constant, nagging presence – as unavoidable as those ever-present frogs in a marsh. I find that endlessly fascinating: how personal anxieties mingle with this pursuit of naturalistic rendering. Editor: Oh wow, I hadn't considered the personal aspect! So the naturalism is almost like a screen? That's a wild thought, that an artwork filled with nature could also be filled with dread. I definitely see the print in a different light now! Curator: Precisely! A window, yes, but also a mirror, reflecting both the beauty *and* the anxieties of its time – and, dare I say, timeless human struggles. See the frog perched on its leafy stage? The center of its small universe… Or is it trapped within? Food for thought, indeed.