Happy birthday to iconic Dutch graphic artist M. C. Escher, born 125 years ago today! Animal forms inspired many of his works, including reptiles. Here is a favorite example, Reptiles from 1943:
Here are two 19th-century turtle-shaped umbilical cord amulets from the Penn Museum‘s rotating display. The first one I saw on display this past weekend; the second one is from a visit back in 2019. I thought it looked different than what I remembered! 😉 1. Turtle-shaped umbilical cord amulet, Assiniboine…
Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam is set to open a pair of new animal-themed exhibitions, both running from 30 September 2022 – 15 January 2023: 1 CLARA THE RHINOCEROS –Clara was unfamiliar, impressively large, and strange to behold – in short, she was different from any other animal. Clara the Rhinoceros tells…
Lidded Bowl with Iguanac. 600–1100 (Thermoluminescence date, 995–1395)Costa Rica, Southern Nicoya regionceramic, slipCleveland Museum of Art It is believed the iguana’s regional symbolism was linked to both rulership and the solar realm, and here we see the iguana is portrayed as if basking in the sun, but also with an…
After a long period of relatively little activity outside of posting info about events, Smithsonian’s National Museum of African Art’s social media has had a busy August sharing more images from its collection, including no less than a half dozen animal art-themed works! I have been sharing these on the…
Small cast copper-alloy ornaments are made across West Africa within the arc of the great Niger River. Brass or bronze casting has powerful associations with the supernatural because, like ironworking, it is a highly specialized process that uses fire to transform a raw material into a form that is useful…
Coins of Aegina depicted images of sea turtles on their coins when the island of Aegina was the supreme sea power among the Greek city-states. The sea turtle, seen here on the front (obverse) of this coin, represented its naval strength and resiliency. After its defeat by Athens in 458…
