The Insect and the Image

<div> <p>Once considered marginal members of the animal world (at best) or vile and offensive creatures (at worst) insects saw a remarkable uptick in their status during the early Renaissance. This quickened interest was primarily manifested in visual images-in illuminated manuscripts still life paintings the decorative arts embroidery textile design and cabinets of curiosity. In <i>The Insect and the Image</i> Janice Neri explores the ways in which such imagery defined the insect as a proper subject of study for Europeans of the early modern period.</p> <p>It was not until the sixteenth century that insects began to appear as the sole focus of paintings and drawings-as isolated objects or specimens against a blank background. The artists and other image makers Neri discusses deployed this specimen logic and so associated themselves with a mode of picturing in which the ability to create a highly detailed image was a sign of artistic talent and a keenly observant eye. <i>The Insect and the Image</i> shows how specimen logic both reflected and advanced a particular understanding of the natural world-an understanding that in turn supported the commodification of nature that was central to global trade and commerce during the early modern era.</p> <p>Revealing how sixteenth- and seventeenth-century artists and image makers shaped ideas of the natural world Neri's work enhances our knowledge of the convergence of art science and commerce today.<br></p> </div>