Rijksmuseum

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Creator

Dutch Golden Age medallist and silversmith · 1568–1627

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Date: 1614
Medium: silver (metal)
Culture: Utrecht
Institution: Rijksmuseum

On this ewer everything is in motion. Animal and human forms emerge from a viscous mass. It is possible that it represents the primordial soup (prima matera) from which life arose according to alchemists. On the inside are two crawling salamanders or lizards: animals that were also thought to originate from non-living matter. Does the ewer establish a link between the creative power of the artist and that of nature?

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