In the Shadows of a Golden Age: the Bentvueghels - Part III

A 'sotto bosco' with mushrooms, butterflies, a dragonfly, a snake and a lizard, 17th century,
Otto Marseus van Schrieck

"Maria Sibylla Merian is celebrated for her caterpillars and butterflies; Van Schrieck, an equally distinguished butterfly painter, preferred toads, lizards and snakes. In fact, this voracious reptile hunter earned the sobriquet “Snuffelaer” (snuffler) because of the time he spent sniffing around in the undergrowth looking for his beloved models, allegedly even subjecting them to his kisses. And they loved him back: the denizens of his personal menagerie at his modest country house outside Amsterdam’s St Anthony Gate – he called “the land of snakes” – would even hold a pose, patiently wrapped around his maulstick (resulting in the coiling figura serpentinata in his paintings)...

The catalogue’s four essays and 36 mini-essays contextualize Van Schrieck within the artistic and scientific communities of his day, capturing the intersection of art, science and the occult when the boundary between them was still porous, and rehabilitating him as a man of science rather than a mere “curiosity”. Their task is not difficult because their subject was prescient in his passion for accuracy and empiricism (he used a microscope, rare at the time), and he collaborated with scientists in one of Europe’s leading intellectual centres. However, his scholarly side did not keep him from painting fantastical landscapes with improbable plants..."

- From the article: Otto Marseus van Schrieck: introducing the inventor of the 'forest-floor' still-life, written in regards to an exhibit (and accompanying catalogue) of Schrieck's work at the Staatliches Museum Schwerin and Rijksmuseum.

Snuffelaer, or "ferreter" was actually Schrieck's "Bent" code-name. What I found particularly intriguing in the article, however, was mention of a figura serpentinata, an art term I'd never heard before.*

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The Flower Painters

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(As it happened) when I first spied Otto van Shrieck's strange little mushroom composition (above), I intuitively knew it would be the initial spiral image for this post. Not that its spiral was immediately  (visually) evident - it wasn't - but it's as if could almost hear it... a little fugue of musical notes and correspondences... and, sure enough, there was not merely a spiral winding its way though the shadows on the forest floor but an extraordinary spiral and the first example of its kind... a virtual orchestration! The actual serpent in the painting may as well be an afterthought.

But, then Otto van Schrieck was a fairly extraordinary man. Nicolaes Lachtropius was one of his followers, as well as Willem van Aelst (the second Bentvueghel presented here). And, it is with Van Aelst (1627-1683) that we will find our greatest number of golden spirals... almost always accompanied by that small creature that originally inspired this present inquiry: the snail!

A selection is below the jump.

From the Studio of Willem van Aelst. Geometry: 2022, DS.

For some obscure reason, the panel (above) was cropped... depriving us of the apex of the last leaf at the bottom of the image. As we can see, however, the GTS depends upon that lost image area and the integrity and symmetry of the overall design are equally dependent upon it. You'll note that the tip of that bottom-most leaf probably touched the spiral; the leaf may have been a tad longer and if so the spiral was also a tad larger.

Willem van Aelst

Here (above) our snail blends in with the glowing silver vase... which, together with that lovely curve of flowers and foliage, forms a perfect spiral unit. 

(Note: I can't seem to locate the source link on this painting, but that particular vase (and the snail, too) also appear in this painting by Van Aelst.)

Still life with grapes, a peach, a dragonfly and a butterfly, 1665, Willem van Aelst.

There's a lot to appreciate in Van Aelst's work. I confess, his perfect spirals and perfect snails (!) bring some joy to an otherwise dull day.

Still life with roses, butterfly and snail, 1675, Willem van Aelst. Geometry: 2022. DS.

Perfection!!! In this image it appears as if our snail is dragging the spiral behind it... like an enormous sleigh!

(Added 9/9/22: And, you will note that all the snails in these paintings - with the exception of one white snail - are golden-colored...  especially the one above!)

Still Life with Fruits, 1667, Willem van Aelst. Geometry: 2022, DS.

As for this last image with its overall pyramidal shape, the snail is hidden within the "serpent's" coil. Can you locate it?

Now, the most important contributions Willem van Aelst made to the Baroque art world had much to do with his own expertise but it also owed something to his success at keeping his knowledge alive while mentoring (slightly) younger artists much in the same way Van Schrieck mentored him.  It seems there were, at least, 4 women artists connected to Van Aelst; artists who seem to have ultimately picked up on a certain spiral format he, himself, used extensively.

The first was the artist, Maria van Oosterwijck (1630–1693) - inset right - who was (allegedly) a romantic interest of Van Aelst's. It appears that Van Oosterwijck remained single during her lifetime while Van Aelst eventually married someone else, so, well, theirs was one relationship which probably remained platonic. But, Maria might've learned a thing or two from Van Aelst, and although she only lived for a decade after him, she, in turn passed the tradition on to her servant and assistant, Geertgen Wyntges (1636-1712), who brought the spiral into the 18th century.

Below are paintings by Oosterwijck and Wyntges. I'm afraid I could only find one good reproduction for each woman. I've posted 2 versions of the spiral in Oosterwijck's painting (directly below).

A Vase of Fowers, undated, Maria van Oosterwijk. Geometry: 2022, DS.

Note: We saw this exact "snail/sleigh" configuration in Van Aelst painting.

Vase of flowers in urn on a stone slab,1675, Geertgen Wyngates. Geometry: 2022, DS.

Lastly, we have 2 other students of Van Aelst - the Ruysch sisters, Rachel and Anna - one of whom eventually outshone her mentor...

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The Ruysch Sisters

A Bouquet of Flowers in a Vase, 1684, Rachel Ruysch. Geometry: 2022, DS.

"Rachel Ruysch  (1664-1750) was born in The Hague to the scientist Frederik Ruysch and Maria Post, the daughter of the architect Pieter Post. Her father was also a professor of anatomy and botany and an amateur painter. He had a vast collection of animal skeletons, mineral and botany samples...  At a young age she began to paint the flowers and insects of her father's collection in the popular manner of Otto Marseus van Schrieck... Later, as Rachel became more accomplished, she taught her father (and also her sister, Anna Ruysch) how to paint.

In 1679, at age fifteen, Ruysch was apprenticed to Willem van Aelst, a prominent flower painter in Amsterdam. His studio in Amsterdam looked out over the studio of the flower painter Maria van Oosterwijck. Ruysch studied with van Aelst until his death in 1683.

Art historians consider Ruysch to be one of the most talented still life artists of either sex. By the time of her death at age 86 she had produced hundreds of paintings, of which more than 250 have been documented or are attributed to her. Her dated works establish that she painted from the age of 15 until she was 83, a few years before her death. Historians are able to establish this with certainty because she included her age when signing her paintings."

- Excerpts from the Wiki entry for Rachel Ruysch. Inset left (above) is an architectural drawing originally created by her grandfather, Pieter Post - who died when she was 5 years of age. (Note the golden triangles.) Stylistically, she is considered part of the Rococo movement... or late Baroque period.

"Both Anna and her sister Rachel Ruysch painted in the same style and painted the same subjects: flowers, fruit, and small animals. Anna Ruysch often used S-curve shapes to enliven her compositions and add dynamism, as did Rachel Ruysch, a technique that originated with Willem van Aelst. Because Anna Ruysch rarely signed her work, there are fewer than ten paintings attributed to her with certainty."

- Excerpt from the Wiki entry for Anna Ruysch (1666-1754). Emphasis mine. Inset right is the same painting of Rachel's which was shown at the beginning of this section, only with an alternative "mirror" spiral.

I can understand, to some degree, why it was that what is essentially a GTS in the Ruysch sisters' work (and Van Aelst's!) might be misinterpreted as an "S-curve." I'm only surprised that the figura serpentinata wasn't brought into the fray.... as it, too, was - at times during my research - described as an "S-curve."

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Still life with carnations and other flowers, 1695, Rachel Ruysch. Geometry: 2022, DS.

Speaking of S-curves, I see none in evidence in Rachel's painting above. But, I do see a cunning little golden touch... despite the missing snail (!). The spiral was deliberately sized a little larger so I could show you how closely the stem with the larger carnation bud (on your left) follows it's golden curve.

There's a lot of these eye-catching devices used by the Ruysch sisters in (what I'm presuming to be) their spiral work.

Anna was no slouch in the spiral department either. In fact, she created what appears to be a branching GRS (Golden Rectangle Spiral) - which I actually found first and will show you shortly -  found in the painting below. First I have 2 versions of the GTS...

Tulips and roses in a vase on a marble table, 1700, Anna Ruysch
(previously attributed to Ernst Stuven). Geometry: 2022, DS.

And, it's a take-your-pick kind of thing; either the spiral above or the one inset left. The first follows the curve more closely, but the second has a better relationship with the tulip. In any case, there's no overlooking the snail in this painting; it's sitting (quite alert) smack-dab in the center of the arrangement!

However, as I mentioned a few sentences ago, the first spiral I found was of the rectangular variety - I knew next to nothing about the pentagonal variety at the time.*** But, as it seems to work out, the rectangular species offers one variety of spiral-combination I have yet to see in the pentagonal form: the branching spiral. Observe, and tell me it isn't tremendously cool that one branch of this spiral terminates on the snail!

Anyway, if there is a quintessential Baroque design, the one below is it!

Lastly, we have one more by Anna and then it appears Part III is done.

Still Life of Flowers in a Glass Vase on a Stone Table Ledge, 1720s, Anna Ruysch.
Geometry: 2022, DS.

I've given the spiral a lot of breathing space in the painting above because the golden proportion is actually present on several tiers. There is a very tight spiral surrounding just the flowers and a much larger one surrounding the background foliage and intercepting the dying flower suspended from the ledge as well. You will note the small snail shell on the right side of the arrangement. Is the snail curled up inside or is the shell empty? Then again, why has that lower flower been cropped the way it has? It somehow cramps our view.

In any case, Anna discontinued painting after marriage and motherhood, and is generally - and, perhaps, unfairly - given less credit than her older sister. Rachel, on the other hand continued to paint till the end of her long life while giving birth to 10 children (!), certainly making her the most dedicated of the sisters!

But, after all is said and done, it is with the Ruysch sisters in the 18th century that our golden tradition - that is, the thread which found its source in the late Renaissance - seems to fade. Was it picked up again at some other point in the history of art? I do not know this. My work is done.

I did plan to write a recap of the Dutch leg of this journey, but, ultimately I feel I should do a separate post summing up the entire series... of which this post is, for the most part, the end. There is one more planned post (which was actually initially slated to be the first!), but, for the most part this "moment in history" is about to conclude.

Till next time, then... au revoir!

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* Apparently, the figura serpentinata was a style element found in Mannerism intended to make figures in paintings seem more dynamic by utilizing a "spiral pose." It was one element of idealized form/formula using 3 qualities recommended by art theorist, Giovanni Paolo Lomazzo (1538-1592): the pyramid, the figura serpentinata, and a "certain numerical proportion." 

For the record, although I was initially hopeful about this design element, I've since read a bit more about figura serptentinata and it merely bears a superficial resemblance to the tradition we are seeking. The pyramid it refers to is "flamelike" and the curves are not spiral curves. There might be something of an esoteric nature about it, but, there is nothing particularly "golden" about it. A better explanation for the "serpent" can be found here.

** I'm afraid I have little room in this post for biographical information, but I have written a little about van Oosterwijck in a previous post regarding Baroque women. Also, here's a 2021 news article regarding the auction of a painting by Maria.

*** Although, interestingly, I noticed during a recent search - specifically for evidence of my own contributions - that the internet is presently full of pentagonal Phi... which must have popped up out of nowhere quite recently.