MARSEUS VAN SCHRIECK, Otto

Marseus van Schrieck was one of the first painters to specialise in this type of still-life and his pictures were imitated by a number of artists. This still-life represents a milk thistle, mushrooms, a wood snail, a blue, a queen of Spain fritillary, an emperor moth, a tortoise shell, a dragon-fly, together with an aspis adder taking a fledgeling from a nest of a sedge-warbler.

Marseus van Schrieck was fascinated by the animals which he painted and their behaviour. He knew the habits of these creatures very well and is known to have bred snakes, lizards and insects himself. It therefore seems that many of the detailed flora and fauna contained in his paintings were based on careful study of the various animals, insects and plants he discovered and kept in his own garden, a ‘watery’ domain near Diemen.

This painting is an early example of the forest floor still-life (or sottobosco) which Otto Marseus van Schrieck pioneered. It depicts aspic viper, sand lizard, tree frog, moths and fungi. The snake, emerging from the shadows of the undergrowth, is about to attack the frog. Its mouth is open, prepared to bite, and its wide eyes are fixed on its prey, which has its back turned, unaware of the imminent danger. The rest of the work is populated by a range of fungi, thistles and moths.

This painting depicts a forest floor still-life with a variety of mushrooms and flowers, including morning glories and a tulip, a frog, a snake and various butterflies.

Otto Marseus van Schrieck was one of the leading painters of the forest floor still-life. Depicting with meticulous detail the creatures and plants of the forest undergrowth, often in nocturnal settings, this sub-genre had a great vogue in the mid-17th century.

The picture shows a nocturnal forest floor still-life with a thistle, butterflies, mushrooms and a frog.

Otto Marseus van Schrieck was one of the leading innovators of the Dutch forest floor-still life. In the present work, he has focused meticulous attention on a thistle, a single pink flower, and a handful of forest dwellers, all of which glisten vividly against a darkened background.

Among the Dutch still-life painters Otto Marseus van Schrieck has a special position. His somewhat exotic oeuvre has only come to be appreciated in more recent decades. He nearly always presents a small section of the woods with thick dark undergrowth, and a hidden microcosm in which frogs, toads, snakes and lizards crowd together, fighting for their lives. Marseus van Schrieck knew the habits of these animals very well and is known to have bred reptiles and snakes himself. This painting also shows bizarre botanical species, such as a coral fungus on the left and thistles, under which a lizard - a so-called lacerta - is hiding, about to attack the toad.

Marseus van Schrieck has designed an idealized habitat, modelled on biological dioramas, which are illustrations with a three-dimensional effect. However, although the world of his paintings reflects the zoological and botanical interests of a well-versed science amateur, it is still not free from religious associations. Indeed, it is the religious meaning which determines the selection and composition of the animals and plants. The snake, the toad and the lizard are the ‘unclean animals’, the serpent had negative connotations and was regarded as an incarnation of evil, and such, was a favourite subject for depicting evil.

This painting also shows bizarre botanical species, such as a coral fungus on the left and thistles, under which a lizard - a so-called lacerta - is hiding, about to attack the toad.

The main motif of the painting is a flourishing poppy plant, with large leaves and buds, an at the top a red flower in full bloom. Due to the presence of insects and reptiles the term “still-life” is not appropriate for such a picture, it is in fact a nature study.

Marseus van Schrieck developed a subgenre of reptile-insect-and-plant paintings. In this painting that combines animals and plants typical for August, he made an impression of butterfly wings into the paint, to achieve lifelike texture, and implanted at least one leg of a fly. Marseus van Schrieck may have developed these interest in the lively scientific culture of Rome, where he met Samuel van Hoogstraten in 1652.

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The fading hues of Marseus van Schrieck’s overblown beauties are richly naturalistic. This work is considerably prettier the ones he was famous for: brown scenes of woodland floor inhabited by reptiles and fungi.