I have an early childhood memory of receiving a postcard from my neighbours who were on vacation in Limburg. On the left part of the card “KR Brinkman Fam.” was written. I wondered with surprise why they’d only leave an abbreviation when there was still so much white space left on the card. Despite that enormous vaccuum, I remember my mother being very pleased with this postal greeting.

This is the essence of a postcard; it’s a gesture of presence. The postcard can contain a message that's nearly empty, that does little more than communicate the sender’s message: “I’m here” or “I’m thinking of you”.

Since college, I’ve been steadily building my collection of postcards. All in all, I have around three shoeboxes full of them. There’s no real underlying theme. There are the prototypical “happy birthday” cards. On one of these cards, meant for a man’s birthday, is printed a shaving brush, a beer jug, cigars, a miniature car, and a slightly pathetic bouquet. One birthday card for a woman shows a cyclamen, a mixer, a candleholder, a sewing machine, and other assorted household appliances. These are still lifes from the fifties that are becoming increasingly rare.

I have Turkish and Italian cards, countless art cards from the Kröller-Müller, the Prado, and other museums. Since 1993, “Free Boomerang cards” came out on the market. These cards were freely available to be plucked from display stands at cafes. There are some very strong ones among these. For example, one printed with the expression “In a dip?” shows a depressed teenager on a white folding chair in his empty study room. Or a card with a man falling from the skies with the words, “Ever considered aerotherapy?” Boomerang seemed to have a card designed for every idea or mood.

I often look through a pile of cards if I want to change my mood or my mode of thinking. My unwritten postcards are not addressed to anyone, and don’t need to ever be sent to anyone. They are images and ideas in their own right.

The philosopher Jacques Derrida takes this a step further in his book, La Carte Postale: De Socrate à Freud et au-delà [1]. In the Bodleian library in Oxford, he found a postcard on which Plato and Socrates are depicted. This card fascinated him, because neither the meaning of the card, the image, nor the text on the back correspond to its message. It is a gesture, an impulse, a transmission, or “un envoi,” in French. It takes flight and in that, finds its power. Every letter has certain content; the postcard has no need for that.

Derrida claims that a philosophical text is like a postcard. Plato’s dialogues, in which Socrates is always the main character, are some of the most well known texts in the history of philosophy. According to Derrida, they can be seen as a series of postcards that have been sent into history. Derrida wonders how Freud received Plato’s postcards 2500 years later.

There are certain postcards that I would never do away with. An aquarelle in card form by Marlene Dumas from 1989 titled, “On his back”, for example. I bought this card after seeing Dumas’ exhibition at the Centre Pompidou in Paris at the end of 2001. Each time I looked at it, I became calm, as though my son, one year old at the time, was depicted on the card. I’ll always cherish this card for the therapeutic value it had for me.

Choosing a Dumas-in-card-form is no coincidence: she has often told that her work is often based on photographs and images. She sees the interpretion of images towards an intrinsic meaning as a process in which the different elements overlap.

To observe and to give meaning; we cannot help but bring what we see into words. Dumas puts this very succinctly in an interview: “words and images drink from the same cup, and our ears are next to our eyes”. [2]

Apparently, the poet Rutger Kopland has a huge collection of postcards. Among his writings, there are various poems dedicated to musing upon these cards.This one is titled “Choosing a postcard”. [3]:

Choosing a postcard

On the postcard there are a couple of men
playing pétanque below a plane-tree
at their feet the balls they’ve thrown

they’ve stopped the game and ponder
they are standing in a circle, heads bowed
over what is lying there

there’s a problem lying there
never have their balls lain like this

I could keep looking at this card
it’s probably almost night there now, the shadows
have lengthened, the end of a hot day

and while nothing moves there
invisibly slowly a question is growing
the question: what now

I’d really like to send you this card

© Rutger Kopland

© Tranlation: Willem Groenewegen http://www.decontrabas.com/de_contrabas/2009/08/rutger-kopland-75.html

The calvary mountain in a bottle.

We all know that image of utmost intrigue of a boat in a bottle. How we delight ourselves in wondering how on earth one could fit the entire ship and its masts, sails, yards, booms, gaffs, bowsprit and rigging through the tiny mouth of a bottle! How very painstaking the task, how immensely disciplined the maker! Let alone the enormous amount of time spent making each separate object.

Although it may seem that way, ships aren’t the only things that have made their way to the bottle. In fact, the bottle is the scene for yet another setting.

In the south of Germany and Austria, entire Golgothas are places inside bottles. Simple wooden carvings of the crucifixion of Christ, framed by Arma Christi, otherwise known as the Instruments of Passion.

The word arma sounds related to weapons, and so it is. For the devoted, these symbols represent the weapons with which Jesus entered his conquest against death from which he emerged victorious.

I’d previously only been familiar with the Instruments of Christ through an interesting painterly theme, namely, the Gregoriusmis. During a holy mass led by Pope Gregorius, Christ magically appeared as the Man of Sorrows. The Arma are scattered around him randomly and in and are painted in a cartoonish fashion on the canvas or panel. There are many instruments. The most important are the cross, the crown of thorns, the whipping post, the cock, nails, a hammer, pliers, dice, a ladder, a lance, a sponge (on a long stick,) but the more fanatic might proceed with the shroud of Veronica, the silver pieces Judas was paid (with or without pouch,) a spitting mouth, a portrait of Pilaus, a punishment tool made of knotted string, a bottle of balm, a king’s mantel, a torch, a Judas kiss, the good and the evil murder, a bucket (for vinegar,) INRI written on a piece of paper, the sun and the moon, a representation of the Denial of Peter, a pitcher and a bowl (in which Pilatus washes his hands of guilt,) a cup (that he can’t let past him,) and my favourite instrument: a sword stuck into an ear.

According to John the Evangelist, that ear belongs to a servant named “Malchus.” In the heat of the battle at the Mount of Olives, where Christ is captured, the hot headed Peter attempts to thwart the situation by striking the high priest’s servant down with his sword, cutting off his ear in the process. This servant’s name was Malchus, and as such, he’s quite comically included in the gospel.

Using these symbols, one can reconstruct the entire story from Christ’s capture in the Mountain of Olives to his crucifixion and subsequent descent from the cross (which explains the presence of an object as mundane as a pair of pliers inside the bottle.) I’m well versed in the passion of Matthew and John. I even know them by heart, albeit in German.This is why: because I’m a professional classical singer, I’ve been singing Bach’s passions for four to three weeks a year since my college days. The passions are performed more in The Netherlands than anywhere else, whether this is St. John or St. Matthew’s version. At this point, it’s likely that I’ve performed the gospel dozens of times, and probably more than a hundred times per passion.

The simple wood carver unleashing his blades onto the blocks of wood in his wintry farmer’s home can find inspiration for the most precious details from St. John’s gospel. He tells us the name of the servant who’s short an ear after his meeting with Peter. He describes the garment that Jesus wears as he is dressed as a saint to be ““Ungenähet, von oben an gewürket, durch und durch.” These bottle of patience makers (“Geduldsflasche,) as they’re also referred to, don’t go as far. Besides the impossibility of really understanding what is meant with “gewürket, durch und durch,” most of these amateur carvers are not quite apt enough at their hobby to be able to go into too much detail with their bottle scenes.The dice might have the right amount of dots, and you won’t mistake the cock for just any old bird, but don’t expect any filigree wood works.

This is folk art. Ever endearing, the bottles start including cut outs from magazines and postcards as the years progress. And to show a bit of skill, cypress-like trees are placed in the bottle. It’s far easier to make than it appears, and although the cypress isn’t specifically mentioned in the gospel, we still understand its purpose in the scene.

In the same areas where the crucifixion is placed within bottles, you’ll find the theme outside the bottle, in large format, hung up in houses. These are called Wetterkreuz, around which entire families would congregate on stormy days and nights when thunder and lightning would threaten the hay and straw decked farms, to pray for God to keep the house from being struck by lightning.

The Eingerichte that I own have all been bought on eBay and have been delivered to me by mail. The most beautiful example has not survived its journey intact. The goodnews is that now own one in which the earthquake (one of Bach’s Mattheus Passion’s most famous scenes) is shown. Now that’s rare.

An exhibition has been installed in Museum Vrolik, but the shown collection has not yet been described in detail to the public. Hence this ‘self-guided’ tour, that leads past thirty highlights in the field of embryology, congenital anomalies, pathology and the history of collecting.

1. Embryo without membranes (5 weeks old). This is the smallest unborn human in the museum that can be seen with the naked eye. At five weeks into the gestation, the vital organs and tissues are, in principle, in place, such as the heart, liver and neural tube (the predecessor of brain and spinal marrow). Yet the face, arms, and legs have barely developed. Compare this embryo to the wax model (nr.8) in the bell jar on the glass plate on the upper right.

2. Young foetus (8 weeks old) in its inner membrane (amnion). Already at eight weeks after fertilisation, all tissues and organs are in place and we no longer speak of an embryo, but of a foetus. In fact, the foetus – no longer than 2 cm – only has to grow in size from now on. Face, ears, fingers and toes are already recognisable in this specimen. (collection Woerdeman 1934)

3. Foetus in the uterus, with opened membranes (5 months old). The inner membrane, the amnion, contains the foetus in its fluid. The inner membrane, the chorion, forms a whole with the placenta (see also specimen to the left).

4. ‘Siamese twins’ is really a misleading term for a pair of twins joined in utero. The name finds its origin in 19^th century Thailand, called Siam, where the conjoined twins Chang and Eng Bunker. Chang and Eng travelled the world and became so famous as ‘Siamese twins’ that this name would be continued to be used after their death for all connate twins. Just as this specimen, Chang and Eng belonged to the group of twins that are joined at the front of their torsos. Thoracopagus means ‘stitched together at the rib cage’. On the inside, it is also possible for organs, such as heart and liver, to be conjoined. Compare this thoracopagus to other Siamese twins (and skeletons) to see in which other ways the two bodies can be conjoined. (collection Vrolik)

5. Lithopedion or Stone Baby. A lithopedion starts as an ectopic pregnancy: the implantation of the embryo into the uterus does not occur, as it gets stuck in the Fallopian tube. This happens in 98% of all cases of this complication. It is very rare whenthe embryo burrows into the abdomen, as is the case here. Here, the foetus can reach a considerable size. When the foetus dies, sedimentations of calcium can encapsulate it, thereby petrifying it, as it were. (origin unknown)

6. Development of brain. A series of heads of foetuses and new-borns of which part of the skull has been removed to show the brains. As the foetus grows older and the brain gradually develops, an increasing number of furrows and coils appear. This development actually continues until long after birth. Compare the brains of the foetuses and new-borns with the brains of adults (on the shelf below). (collection Bolk)

7. Cyclops. Cyclopia is a congenital disorder in which the normal development of the brain is disturbed in both cerebral hemispheres. As a consequence, especially the parts of the brain that are centrally located and the body parts that are connected to these, such as the facial bones and nose, do not develop well. The eyes, which are normally formed more to the side of the face, end up in the middle, fused to one central eyeball. There is some variation in the appearance of Cyclops. Sometimes there is a proboscis (‘trunk’), a non-functioning deformed nose; sometimes there are two eyes, but very close to each other; sometimes the eyeball has two separate pupils. The variation in Cyclopes is also apparent from the series of Cyclops-skulls. The skull located on the far left is that of a normal new-born. (collections Vrolik and Bolk)

8. Development of teeth. This series of upper and lower jaws shows the development from deciduous teeth to permanent teeth. It is notable how the permanent teeth are present in the jawbone long before they erupt. When big enough, they slowly press away the deciduous teeth. The latter will become loose and fall out one by one. (collection Anatomical Museum Waag 1856)

9. Skull bones. Human skull from which all skull bones have been taken apart and, using brass plates and screws, reassembled. It is notable how the face is built up from many different bones, most of them very small. The part of the skull that surrounds the brain consists of a relatively small number of larger pieces of bone. The bones are normally connected with skull sutures, which are somewhat similar to zippers. (collection Anatomical Museum Waag 1856)

10. Hydrocephalus. A Hydrocephalus, commonly known as ‘water on the brain’ emerges when the normal circulation of brain liquids (liquor) is disrupted in the brain and spinal marrow. Often, a small tube (called the cerebral aqueduct or the aqueduct of Silvius) that carries liquid from the brain to the spinal cord is obstructed. The consequence is that the amount of fluid entering the brain increases continually, but does not leave it anymore. The brains are then pushed outwards and the skull grows to facilitate this. Without medical intervention, this deformation leads to severe mental impairment and often to death. The most important contemporary treatment consists of the placement of an artificial tube that drains excessive brain fluid. (collections Vrolik and Bolk)

11. Tightlacing Liver. Three livers, deformed by the wearing of a corset. In the 19^th century, corsets were meant to provide their wearers – mostly women- with a slim waist as dictated by the fashion of the times. Enduring pressure from the corset resulted in deformations of the rib cage, lungs, diaphragm, and liver. The compression of the lungs and diaphragm led to breathing disorders, but the liver was not restricted in its functioning by the wearing of a corset. Corsets existed in all kinds and shapes. As a result, the deformations of the liver equally differ. The liver in the middle was partly divided into two by the corset (see the large cavity on the left side). (collection Bolk, 1906,1914, 1923)

12. Siren. A siren is a mythical creature from Greek mythology. Just like a mermaid, the siren is human on the upper side, fish on the lower. Sirenomelia is a congenital syndrome that in respect of shape reminds strongly of a siren or mermaid. There is only one leg, which sometimes ends in one foot, sometimes, two, but also often none at all. A remarkable detail is that sex organs and anus are usually lacking and that the pelvis and knee joint seem to have been placed the wrong way around. The knee thus bends forward. The cause of sirenomelia has not been well explained. Children with this disorder typically die during birth. (Collections Vrolik, Bolk, and unknown)

13. Penis. Two dried penises stuffed with wax, one with part of the (dried) bladder and part of the pubic bone (the front side of the pelvis) attached. The technique to inject tissue with (coloured) wax was invented in the 17^th century by anatomist Frederik Ruysch and extensively applied until the 19^th century. Especially tissue with many blood vessels or hollows was suitable to be dried after being pumped full, such as hearts, large arteries, placentas and penises. The penis consists, apart from a urinal tract, of erectile tissue that fills with blood during sexual arousal. (Collection Vrolik)

14. Chinese foot. The deformed lotus foot from the late 19^th century can be seen as the Chinese equivalent to the tightlacing liver. For this beauty ideal the feet were fractured, often with young girls. The heel bone was pressed against the metatarsal bones, after which the foot was swathed. The result was a deformed, severely underdeveloped foot. Chinese women with lotus feet were very often prostitutes. The deformation made them hardly able to walk. Their clumsy waddle was deemed to be attractive by men. (collection Bolk, 1900)

15. Giant Hand. A plaster cast of the hand of a giant from Japan. Gigantism (also: giantism or acromegaly) is an overgrowth syndrome in which excessive growth hormone is produced. This happens in the pituitary gland, a small organ underneath the brain. The hypersecretion of growth hormone is mostly caused by a benign tumour in the pituitary gland. (Collectie Vrolik)

16. Harlequin Baby. Ichthyosis congenita literally means ‘congenital fish disease’. It is a genetic skin condition that must be very painful for the foetus. The aberration is caused by a severe swelling of the stratum corneum, the outermost skin layer that consists of dead cells or corneocytes. Motion in the uterus causes the thickened skin to rip in many places. The foetus on the left was born around 1841 and was described at length by Gerard Vrolik. (collection Vrolik)

17. Skeleton development. Foetus of around six months old, conserved in a clearing agent, a liquid that makes tissue translucent. The bones have been chemically coloured to render the bone formation visible. The skeleton of a foetus initially consists entirely of cartilage. During the development (before and after birth) this cartilage is slowly but gradually replaced by bone fibres. This foetus shows that the ossification of the skeleton (orange) has progressed considerably, yet is still far from completion. Especially at joints (knees, elbows, foot and hand) there are parts that still consist of cartilage and, consequently, are left uncoloured here. (origin unknown)

18. Dwarfism. Achondroplasia (literally ‘underdeveloped cartilage’) is a skeleton dysplasia, a genetic disorder of the skeleton. The main cause, as the name already suggests, is a disturbance in the development and ossification of the cartilage. This causes the vertical growth of the bones to lag behind badly. Very characteristic of this form of dwarfism is the relatively large head with a bulging forehead, a torso of relatively normal size and short, somewhat bended arms and legs. People with achondroplasia usually lead relatively normal lives (albeit with some modifications). There are many types of skeleton dysplasia that are more severe than achondroplasia; children with these more severe types most often die during birth (for more, see the vitrine ‘deviations of the skeleton’). (collection Vrolik)

19. Breakable bones. Osteogenesis imperfecta belongs, just like skeleton dysplasia, to the hereditary diseases of the skeleton. The name literally means ‘defective formation of bone’. The aberration arises by a mutation in a gene that is responsible for the formation of collagen (gluing agent) in the bone tissue. Without this gluing agent, the skeleton is very fragile: the bones of a foetus with this disorder will break with the slightest motion in the uterus. The fractures heal, but the bones come to be severely deformed. The skeleton on the right belongs to a special type of Osteogenesis imperfecta. That type has been described for the first time, and in this skeleton, by Willem Vrolik himself. This specific disorder is therefore named disease of Vrolik. (collection Vrolik)

20. Bezoar. Bezoar stones come from the stomachs of antelopes, gazelles or lamas. They consist of chalk-like substances and clotted hair. For a long time, the trade in these stones flourished, since they were regarded as an antidote to poison. Kings and other eminent gentlemen who feared poisoning had the stone set in gold for dipping in potentially poisoned drink. Because of their rarity and supposed powers, Bezoar stones were also a much sought-after item in rarity cabinets from the 16^th and 17^th century. (Collection Vrolik)

21. Bladder Stones. These two bladder stones, set in metal, are the oldest objects in the museum. The smaller of the two bears the following inscription: On the 27^th December 1588 died Jan Jacopsen Dick, who went by the name of Schot, in the morning at six o’clock. This stone was cut out of his bladder, weighing a pound, and also a twig, both intact. A caption on the other stone says that on the 6^th of May 1608, it has been removed from Elisabeth Fransen, 52 years of age, who passed away shortly after the operation. Bladder stones consist of all sorts of urinal salts and usually emerge when a kidney stone ends up in the bladder. Infections and the inability to fully drain the bladder allows them to gradually grow to enormous sizes. Bladder stones were removed by the stonecutter (lithotomist). A painful operation that was far from being always successful, as is also apparent in these inscriptions. If the patient did survive the procedure, he or she would often suffer from incontinence for the rest of his or her life. (collections Hovius and Vrolik)

22. Cart Wheel. Femur that was crushed by the wheel of a heavily loaded cart. Probably, the leg got jammed between the spokes of the riding cart and fractured in a complex way by the revolving motion. According to the anatomist Andreas Bonn, who described all bone samples from the cabinet of Horvius, the muscles in this specimen were torn, but the skin was still intact. The leg is a good example of what, in the 19^th century, might have been a common incident, when horse carriages dominated the streetscape. (collection Horvius)

23. Kick of the Horse. Skull of a man that was deformed by the kick of a shoed horse. The anatomist Andreas Bonn states that the horse had delivered the blow in June 1750. The kick broke the cheekbone of the man. Consequently, a swelling emerged that gradually increased in size and reached from nose to temple. The eye became blind and bulged out of its socket. According to Bonn, nineteen years after the incident the swelling burst and the man died. (collection Hovius)

24. Kyphosis of Pott. A forward-bending kink in the spine is called kyphosis. This is different from scoliosis (see upper shelf), which is mainly a sideward curvature. The kyphosis of Pott is caused by an infection, mostly of TBC bacteria, in the vertebrae. Over time, the infected vertebrae are so consumed and weakened that they sag and, as it were, effectuate a fracture in the spinal column, which then bends forward. Kyphosis was named after English surgeon Percival Pott, who was the first to describe the disease. Not until the 19^th century was it discovered that the same cause of the disease was already known as pulmonary tuberculosis (see the samples in formaldehyde below). TBC is still a serious and common disease worldwide.(collection Vrolik)

25. Rickets. Rickets is an excessive curvature and deformation of the bones that exacerbates over the years. It is caused by a deficit of vitamin D, a substance that is acquired through food or produced under the influence of sunlight. In the 19^th century, rickets was common among the poor population in cities. Death by rickets was rare, except in one specific context: among pregnant women. The bone softening caused the spine to sag into the pelvic inlet. This resulted in a pelvis narrowed to the extent that women were no longer able to give birth. This was often discovered late and hence all kinds of complications occurred during labour – the child typically died and the emergency interventions of doctors often caused bacterial infections: childbed fever. Rickets was thus a frequent cause of death for both mother and child in the 19^th century. It is no coincidence that the collection of Gerard Vrolik contains a large amount of ‘rickety’ female pelvises. (collection Vrolik)

26. Vrolik Cabinet. Whale eye, lion heart, giraffe tongue and many other organs of a wide range of animals. It was mainly Willem Vrolik who showed interest in animal anatomy, as he kept the organs of basically every animal that he dissected, either dried or preserved in formaldehyde. In this way, a sizeable collection gathered of what is called ‘comparative anatomy’: by way of comparison of the same organ in different animals, one gained insight in the structural similarities and differences between all those animals. (collection Vrolik)

27. Napoleon’s Lion. The skeleton of the lion that was once part of the collection of live animals belonging to Louis Napoleon, king of Holland from 1806 to 1810. In 1809, this animal collection found its dwelling place in the botanical garden of Amsterdam, of which Gerard Vrolik was the director. When the lion passed away, Gerard Vrolik was allowed to dissect the animal and to keep the skeleton. The skeleton of the lion is posited prominently in a so-called ‘chain of life’, a series of skeletons and skulls of vertebrates. Father and son Vrolik were of the view that all living creatures were created according to an order, namely a chain or ladder that ranged from the least perfect to the most perfect creatures. In this case, it lead from fish to, ultimately, apes and man. (originally collection Vrolik, courtesy of NCB-Naturalis)

28. Young chimpanzee. Skeleton of a young chimpanzee from the collection of the anatomist Lodewijk Bolk from Amsterdam. Bolk developed a strong interest in human evolution. How did man originate from an apelike ancestor? Bolk compared skulls, skeletons and prepared samples of humans and apes and came to the surprising observation that the human body, especially the structure of the skull, had much more in common with the equivalent physiology of young apes than with that of mature apes. Bolk concluded that man must derive from an ancestor that had physically remained an infant, but was able to procreate. In Bolk’s words: “man is a sexually matured ape foetus.” (collection Bolk 1925)

29. Piltdown. Plaster cast of the Piltdown skull, one of the greatest cases of scientific fraud in history. The fossil remains of the skull, a piece of the brain-pan and half a lower jaw were found in a quarry in Piltdown, England. The find was immediately characterised as the missing link in the evolution of man. Plaster reconstructions of the entire skull were made at once and disseminated across the whole scientific world. Museum Vrolik also purchased one, in 1924. Although there was already some doubt about authenticity, the fraud was not unmasked until 1955: the skull bones appeared to derive from a medieval man and the jaw of an orang-utan. (collection Bolk 1924)

30. ‘Vivat Oranien’. Tattoos preserved in formaldehyde are rather documents of the times than anatomical specimens. Especially if the tattoo contains dates or text. A tattoo that says “Atjeh 1873-74” refers to the War for Atjeh. The owner probably served in that war and possible experienced love (the dark-haired lady with the hibiscus). 50 years after the tattoo was done, the man passed away. The tattoo “vivat oranien” with the orange tree stems from the first quarter of the 19^th century. It possibly refers to the years around 1815, when The Netherlands became a sovereign kingdom with the advent of William the First, or to the end of the 18^th and beginning of the 19^th century, the Batavian Republic and the time of French hegemony, when a struggle raged between patriots (those in favour of the republic) and Orangists (those in favour of the prince). (collections Vrolik and Blok, 1924)

“Wilmering's favourite ornithological book is Check-list of Birds of the World by James Lee Peters (1889-1952). It consists of no fewer than 16 hefty volumes, the last of which appeared in 1987. After the author's death, fellow ornithologists completed his life's work. Perhaps the most interesting aspect of this book is the fact that the checklist is no more than the title suggests: an endless list of bird names, systematically arranged according to class, order, genus, family and species. It is not the type of book one would expect to find in the bookcase of an artist, for the simple reason that there are no illustrations. It is a work by and for the scientist who has already done his field work. Identification is followed by ordination, classification and taxonomy. Observation by registration, tables, and diagrams. A bird is best 'read' in letters and numbers, a fact that was clear to Carolus Linnaeus back in the mid-18th century. In designing his Systema Natura, he gave both plants and animals double Latin names, again without benefit of illustrations. While the new system was a boon to scientists and collectors, the average fancier who had to rely on a Latin text would have been at pains to identify the bird that just landed on a nearby branch.

Check-list of Birds of the World by James Lee Peters

Few artists had mastered the true-to-life illustration of nature, and one wonders if people actually believed what they were seeing. Nature is of such overwhelming beauty that it is sometimes hard to believe that it is real. When in 1719 Louis Renard published his book on the fish, lobsters and crabs of Ambon, he came in for considerable criticism. No one believed in the existence of such "candy canes with fins": surely those shocking pink creatures were a figment of the artist's imagination! But by the time the second edition appeared in 1754, the publisher had rounded up several eyewitnesses who attested to the authenticity of the illustrations. One of them was Aernout Vosmaer, director of the menagerie and zoological cabinet of Stadholder William V. He assured the doubters that the astonishing shapes and colours of those tropical fish and crustaceans were indeed true to life. But the illustration of a mermaid no doubt led many readers to view the book with a critical eye. Such mythical creatures were ultimately discredited by the new classification system devised by Linnaeus. Henceforth encyclopaedic works devoted to natural history no longer included illustrations of griffins, eight-headed monsters, and fishtails sewn onto shaved monkey torsos. In the 17th century books were still being published which included the harpy, an unsavoury creature with the head of an old woman, sharp claws and a filthy torso. Until empirical research ultimately proved that no one had ever seen a harpy nest. For centuries, bats were also regarded as birds, since they had wings but no feet. Thanks to Linnaeus, they later winged their way into the world of mammals.

In the end, scientists could not do without serious artists. Between 1750 and 1850, thousands of illustrated volumes saw the light of day, in the belief that nature in its entirety could be committed to paper. This led to a host of megalomaniacal projects, which foundered due to their striving for completeness. By the time a register was completed, there were already hundreds of new sorts awaiting publication: the seas proved inexhaustible, the forests unfathomable. But then came the solution: specialization. The striving was no longer to include all the birds in the world, but only those found in India, say, in the southern foothills of the Himalayas, and preferably only the parakeets native to that area. Years ago, I purchased just such a book.

Luuk Wilmering, Bird needs shelter - Scientist Natural habitat of the stork - nr.2

One of the most beautiful bird books in the world comes very close to Wilmering's bird installation, in which the birds are served up by the hunter, the gastronomist, the scientist and the artist. It is The Birds of America (1827-1838) by John James Audubon: the authoritative five-volume bird book in which 443 North American species are described and portrayed life-size. Today it is the world's most expensive book. For days, Audubon would conceal himself in the undergrowth, observing the birds and taking meticulous notes on how they flew, how they mated, and how they fed their young. This was inevitably followed by the aiming of a gun and the pulling of a trigger. For Audubon the hunter, it was a unique experience to feel the body while it was still warm, to observe it at close quarters, and to add to his drawing the most minute details of beak, feet, toes and the inner side of the wings. He used wires to bend the birds into natural poses, while a grid served as the background, ensuring that the animal was drawn in the correct proportions. This method was later borrowed by the photographer Eadward Muybridge for his photo studies of people and animals in motion. Here we see the real Audubon at work. No doubt he lit a fire that same evening and, after grilling the plucked coot or wood stork, dined on his specimens. Many of these descriptions are accompanied by culinary tips: the yellow-billed cuckoo, for example, is at its most flavourful in the autumn, while the American scarlet rosefinch tastes like any other small bird. It is thanks to his direct contact with the dying animals that he is able to immerse himself in his models. He is the anatomist who dissects carcasses with his own teeth. Audubon was an empirical researcher who wound silver wire around a bird's leg, and a year later confirmed that some birds return to the spot where they emerged from the egg...”