Art Institute of Chicago

Pink-Mouth Murex (phyllonotus erythrostomus)

Wenceslaus HollarLinkedCulture matchlcp-ec5e0c654fff

Date

c. 1646

Medium

Etching on ivory laid paper

Culture

Bohemia

Department

Prints and Drawings

Institution

Art Institute of Chicago

Object ID

145833

In the 17th century, seashells became popular collectible objects because they were considered rare and exotic. They also became common subjects for still-life paintings known as Vanitas, which symbolically represent the transience of life. The etchings of both Wenceslaus Hollar and Rembrandt van Rijn could represent the simultaneous beauty and fragility of existence. While still lifes in general are exceedingly rare in Rembrandt’s work, Hollar’s etching comes from a series of seashells, consisting of 38 plates. Rembrandt’s shell (1938.1805) could have been inspired by Hollar’s work, though Rembrandt’s decision to render the shell in a three-dimensional space represents a marked difference between the two etchings.

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