Snake c. 18th century

hand-colored-etching, print, engraving

hand-colored-etching

water colours

egg art

print

handmade artwork painting

fluid art

botanical drawing

naive art

watercolour bleed

watercolour illustration

engraving

botanical art

watercolor

This 18th-century anonymous print titled *Snake* from the Minneapolis Institute of Art features a detailed and colorful depiction of a snake coiled around a plant with a caterpillar, moth, and other insects. The artwork’s vibrant hues and meticulous rendering of the natural world exemplify the artistic and scientific interests of the period, suggesting a focus on natural history and meticulous observation. The print's composition highlights the delicate balance and intricate connections within the ecosystem.

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minneapolisinstituteofart about 1 year ago

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Here Merian drew the root of the cassava plant, Manihot esculenta (Crantz). She noted that the Suriname natives grated the starchy root, pressed out the juice, then placed the root on a hot plate and baked it "like a rusk." This process made the root palatable and eliminated (or at least safely reduced) the poisonous compounds. "Should a man or an animal drink the extracted juice cold, he or it dies an extremely painful death," she said. The snake is the Amazon Tree Boa, Corallus hortulanus (Linnaeus); its swollen stomach indicates that it had recently eaten.